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The Daily Lift

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Breakthroughs

Podcast: Can America's most powerful laser unlock the universe?

NSF-supported researcher Louise Willingale discusses the NSF Zettawatt Equivalent Ultrashort Pulse Laser System, identified in the excerpt as the most powerful laser in the United States. She explains how the system is being used to advance scientific research and outlines its intended future role.

Original reporting: NSF · Research · by NSF · 1 min read

Originally published by NSF · Research: First briefed by The Daily Lift: Last updated:
Illustrative photo: Interior of a research laboratory showing a large optical table and high‑power laser equipment — mirrors, lenses, cables, control boxes and instrumentation across the room.
Illustrative photo: Steve Jurvetson from Menlo Park, USA — SXR beamline - Experimental end of the world’s brightest X-ray Laser, generated by the Linear Accelerator at SLAC.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0. Changes: photo cropped and resized by The Daily Lift. If the remote photo is unavailable, a labelled original TDL illustration is shown instead.

Why this is good news

Researchers and the broader scientific community could benefit because the NSF-supported Zettawatt Equivalent Ultrashort Pulse Laser System is being used to advance scientific research. Its outlined intended future role matters because it signals planned additional uses that could open new opportunities for research.

What happens next

How will the system's research contributions be evaluated, and what evidence will show whether its outlined intended future role delivers the benefits described?

Read the full story at NSF · Research

This is a short original brief by The Daily Lift, not the publisher's full article. Credit and copyright for the original reporting remain with NSF · Research.

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