Laser Cats

If you've never blinded a pilot with one of these, you have not lived

This just in from our affiliates at Huffington Post:

An extremely powerful laser cannon has gone missing. The device is worth an estimated $12,000, and authorities suspect foul play.

Railroads use lasers like this one to measure the length and straightness of rails.

Police spokesman Ryan Grelle said that Denton detectives alerted the FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) when they learned of the missing device's power. "Investigators said they worry that the laser could be pointed at aircraft, potentially blinding a pilot," writes NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.

KCS is offering a $1,000 reward for information regarding the missing equipment.

Recently, the FAA reported a dramatic rise in the number of incidents in which people pointed lasers at aircraft. In 2010, there were 2,836 incidents recorded, up from 1,527 the previous year.

Things I learned from this article:

1. Lasers are incredibly cheap and everybody should have one

2. Authorities don't really care if they get this one back (a $1000 reward for a potentially lethal laser cannon?)

3. Pointing lasers at airplanes is apparently super fun and awesome and we all should try it

More importantly, however, this article made me think about this:



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