Talk:Laser

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I have some changes to improve the readability of the second paragraph.

"A laser differs from other sources of light in that it emits light that is coherent. Spatial coherence allows a laser to be focused on a tight spot, enabling applications such as optical communication, laser cutting, and lithography. It also allows a laser beam to stay narrow over great distances (collimation), a feature used in applications such as optical communication+, laser pointers+, and lidar (削除) (light detection and ranging) (削除ここまで)'. Lasers can also have high temporal coherence, which permits them to emit light with a very narrow frequency spectrum. (削除) Alternatively, (削除ここまで)Temporal coherence can be utilized to produce ultrashort pulses of light with a broad spectrum but durations as short as a femtosecond."

Thanks! 140.177.181.180 (talk) 07:45, 2 November 2024 (UTC) [reply ]

Done Thanks for the suggestion! --Srleffler (talk) 00:43, 4 November 2024 (UTC) [reply ]

change "as short as a femtosecond" to "as short as an attosecond" ^[1] 45.49.1.84 (talk) 04:30, 14 November 2024 (UTC) [reply ]

Not done: no reason given for the proposed change. M.Bitton (talk) 21:27, 14 November 2024 (UTC) [reply ]

Done They gave a reference. That is better than a reason.--Srleffler (talk) 04:32, 15 November 2024 (UTC) [reply ]

change "anacronym" to "acronym," please. Deedle2038 (talk) 03:24, 9 December 2024 (UTC) [reply ]

You will need to provide a justification as the current usage looks ok.

• The word laser is an anacronym that originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.

Laser is now a word, but it was originally an abbreviation. Johnjbarton (talk) 03:40, 9 December 2024 (UTC) [reply ]

Just to expand on my reply, the requested change would result in:

• The word laser is an acronym that originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.

This is not sensible.

I assume that the request meant the phrase "anacronym that originated as an" should be struck because this phrase does not summarize the article. That justification works for me and I applied a fix. Johnjbarton (talk) 17:04, 9 December 2024 (UTC) [reply ]

Done Second time around. Johnjbarton (talk) 17:05, 9 December 2024 (UTC) [reply ]

Not done: per Johnjbarton '''[[User:CanonNi]]''' (talk • contribs) 06:15, 9 December 2024 (UTC) [reply ]

Someone recently added the statement: "Lasers transport the majority of Internet traffic." That's a very bold statement. The article cited as a reference is a CNN article about a proposed laser comms protocol that could make it more widely practical. Nowhere in the article does it say how much lasers are currently used, much less that they're used for the majority of traffic. If this statement is true (which I guess is possible if you include laser fiber optics), it needs a strong reference. 24.251.17.37 (talk) 07:23, 30 January 2025 (UTC) [reply ]

A valid point - removed, as it's quite clearly a false statement. Chaheel Riens (talk) 10:49, 30 January 2025 (UTC) [reply ]

I doubt the statement is false, but since you've challenged it a reference is required. Fiberoptics are used pretty heavily for long-haul data communications these days, and all of the traffic on long-haul links is carried by lasers. When you send data over the internet it's pretty much guaranteed that your data is going over a fiberoptic link at some point in its journey. "The majority of" might be an understatement here.--Srleffler (talk) 04:51, 31 January 2025 (UTC) [reply ]

The statement is false because it not only was not supported by the attached source, but by the rest of the article itself. Also, I see your argument, but we're now entering the pedantry of terms - consider the modification of your statement: When you send data over the internet it's pretty much guaranteed that your data is going over a copper cable at some point in its journey - ergo does copper cable not "transport the majority of Internet traffic"? Which medium is more prevalent - copper, fibre optic, or wifi

The statement - as was - suggested that there was a clear-cut winner when it comes to data transmission, and needs a very clear source in the article body. Chaheel Riens (talk) 17:23, 31 January 2025 (UTC) [reply ]

The wording in the source may not be perfect, but copper wire cables for carrying the internet over long distances have pretty much died out, due to the growth of fibre optic cables. I think this is what the source is *trying* to say.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 17:30, 31 January 2025 (UTC) [reply ]

I believe the CNN source was describing a new commercial effort for free-space optical communications based on NASA technology. The use is listed in the article and I added the CNN and NASA source to that location. Johnjbarton (talk) 18:09, 31 January 2025 (UTC) [reply ]

If you consider the volume of data carried around the world on the Internet, the vast majority of that traffic is carried on fiberoptic cable. Copper wire is mostly just used for the "last mile" wiring to some people's homes and for older intrabuilding wiring. Some traffic is carried over satellite links as well. Wifi is negligible. If you want something more concrete than "traffic", think about amount of data transmitted (number of bytes), times the distance. Fiberoptic cable easily dominates other forms of transmission; it carries about 95% of the traffic, worldwide. --Srleffler (talk) 21:46, 1 February 2025 (UTC) [reply ]

Ianmacm - agreed, but the claim is vague, and that's my point. There's no mention of whether it means long distance transmission or what. Just "the majority of Internet traffic". I wouldn't be averse to something along the lines of "at some point of the journey most internet traffic passes through fibre optic cable", but the current statement (before removal) implies an explicit journey that relies only on laser/fibre optic. Chaheel Riens (talk) 18:45, 31 January 2025 (UTC) [reply ]