science Has Moved On Massively In The Last Few Decades, And Some Inventions Are Useful In Many More Fields Than You Would Expect

As many people will know, the scientific advances of the last hundred years or so far transcended those of any previous period of time, as more and more great thinkers looked for new and improved ways of carrying out a myriad of tasks encompassing the majority of mankind’s daily grind. And computers and technology have had an even more effective impact over the last few decades, making it possible to accomplish things that would have been unthinkable until a few years ago.

Whilst it is accurate to observe that not all of the advances have necessarily been embraced by all of the people – nuclear weapons being a simple and emotive example – the great majority of advances have indeed made our lives less complicated and more enjoyable. Such improvements include enhanced entertainment choices, automated machines to do household chores, surgical developments, enhancements to commercial processes and so much more.

One of the many innovations of the last fifty years is the laser, and at first, many people may struggle to suggest an obvious way in which using a laser has an impact on our lives almost every day, but once you take a second to consider, there are many more than you think.

Albert Einstein originally had the idea of the theory of ‘laser’ in 1917, but it was not until the 1950’s that scientists started to try and prove his theory worked. However, in 1960 the very first laser was constructed. The word laser was in fact suggested as it was an acronym of ‘Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation’. Well, obviously!

The laser remained in the domain of science until 1974 when it made its first proper public entrance as the vital part of new supermarket barcode scanners, and if you are old enough to remember back to the days when every item on sale in a supermarket had a sticky price label attached to it which had to be tapped into the till by a member of staff you’ll definitely agree just how much influence the use of that one little ‘Laser eye’ has had on speeding up the supermarket experience.

In the public domain, hard on the heels of the barcode scanner, the laser disc player was launched onto the market (the discs are still extremely valued in some areas of the market even though the equipment never properly caught on). Soon after that, the Compact Disc Player appeared – and where would any entertainment system be without that piece of kit? And on the subject of music, bands such as Pink Floyd, The Who and Electric Light Orchestra were already using laser light shows to enhance their live shows during the 1970’s, although those kind of light shows are now highly regulated after health and safety complaints relating to Laser eye damage.

Away from public sight though, scientists and scholars in many fields had been considering and then developing lots of other uses for lasers. In the field of medicine, treatments for kidney stones, some orthodontics requirements and Laser eye surgery were all being worked on, as well as cosmetic surgery procedures such as scar and tattoo removal, hair removal and treatment for bad skin.

In industry, the laser is now employed for work such as cutting and welding. And in military circles, lasers are involved in both defence and attack strategies in a number of ways. It is amazing to think that just this one invention has so many uses in everyday life, as do so many other inventions from the last few decades.

As with so many useful inventions, it would seem that other uses for the laser are likely to be discovered in the future. If a laser can play music and images for us, what else could it be used for in the world of entertainment? If it can heal someone’s vision through Laser eye surgery, or dispose of kidney stones or scars, what other areas of the body could it also be used to heal? There are probably a huge number of other things that it could be used for too – the limit is probably mankind’s imagination.
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