ByteMaster0's blog - Science

Hyalophora cecropia

nospam@example.com (Adrian Lauf) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:40:32 -0400

I decided to drive out to Kingston Springs to get some cheaper gas. I'm glad I did. As I finished pumping, another person at a neighboring pump spotted something that I had thought was just a piece of trash blowing in the wind. It was a large moth! Species Hyalophora cecropia. It wasn't doing well: it had a broken wing, and it seemed to be dying - clinging to life in the wind. So, I scooped it up, put it in the trunk, and brought it home. I got out the big camera and took as many pictures as I could.

The animal wasn't doing well at all - it was trying unsuccessfully to fly, and was shivering. I discovered that it had laid eggs all over my trunk! After a small cleanup, I put it in a bush, so it could lay more. Perhaps we will see more of these beautiful creatures soon! More pictures after the break.

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Sniping clouds

nospam@example.com (Adrian Lauf) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 04:20:48 -0400

The cloud ceiling was about 1000-1200 ft (relatively low) due to the "winter weather" that we had lately. Provided a good chance to target a few of the clouds from below. Obviously since the clouds were only 1000 ft above, it was not much of a challenge.

It must be taken into account that in order to get a good reflection, the beam would have to traverse several feet, if not tens of feet, so the actual target is further up the cloud itself, since the cloud doesn't reflect all the light at the very bottom. Bonus pic after the break.

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Engraving/melting plastic

nospam@example.com (Adrian Lauf) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 01:53:28 -0500

In this clip, the 405nm laser, finely focused, can be seen vaporizing plastic and thereby "engraving" an SD card slot cover. You can see the thin whisp of vaporized plastic streaming from the piece as I sweep it across the beam. The line cut in this clip is seen at the very top.

Red vs Blue

nospam@example.com (Adrian Lauf) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 03:01:44 -0500

Some of you will recognize that title as the name of a well-famous, Halo-inspired comedy/drama series on the tubes that's been going on for many years, by Rooster Teeth (if you haven't seen it, you can watch it here. In any case, the image you see here is a comparison of the 3 finished or unfinished lasers. I built a simplified, more reliable driver circuit for the 650nm laser, and it seems to hold its current throughput better. I will eventually perform another MagLaser hack for that one.

As you can see, the red laser is the most powerful, clocking in at 250-300mW of power. The blue one is cranking out about 150mW, while the little red reference laser pointer barely ekes out 0.5mW. The beam sizes are nearly all identical, though the blue laser has a slightly-smaller beam diameter and is more collimated. As always, allow for "interpretative skew" by the camera's CCD sensor.

Ducks in a Row, and More Matches

nospam@example.com (Adrian Lauf) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 01:51:47 -0500

Hey folks, here's a post with balloons being popped all in a row, and a much better vid of matches...

Bonus slow-mo of the balloons after the break!
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Lighting Matches with Lasers

nospam@example.com (Adrian Lauf) — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 19:51:50 -0500

With the help of a magnifier, I was able to focus the beam more tightly. You can see the results for yourself!

Comparo

nospam@example.com (Adrian Lauf) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 17:05:20 -0500

This shot is a very informal comparison between the intensity of a standard office laser pointer and the 405nm device I finished yesterday. Note that the beam widths are identical... actually, the violet laser's beam is somewhat narrower. Yet the intensity causes the camera to expose the beam as being much larger than it actually is.

One must keep in mind that this is not a suitable comparison of actual output intensity - the 405nm device is hundreds of times more powerful. Since both lasers have saturated the sensor, it's difficult to tell anything beyond fringe brightness.

Either way, the 405nm laser will cook your retina in 1/100th of a second or less, so looking into the beam is not at all advisable! Even the diffuse reflection can cause damage. Once I need another break from dissertation writing, I will try to bring you all a completed hand-held product with both momentary and throw switches and and external tweak wheel, all enclosed in a nice shiny aluminum casing.