• Question: can the lasers blind you if you look in to them?

    Asked by emitchard to Tianfu, Mike, Pip, Tim, Tom on 29 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by balotelli, mattiooospurs.
    • Photo: Tom Lister

      Tom Lister answered on 29 Jun 2012:

      Only if you fire them, but it’s like looking down the barrel of a gun – best not to do it if there is a chance it might fire.

      The laser beam is strong enough to cause a lot of damage to your eye, and is able to focus this energy to a very small spot, making it even worse. I have been told that being hit in the eye is very painful and usually leaves a scar on the retina, where the light sensitive cells are at the back of your eye.

      Fortunately, it usually only hits one eye – you would be very unlucky to be hit twice!

    • Photo: Tim Stephens

      Tim Stephens answered on 29 Jun 2012:

      Yes, I wouldn’t fancy it happening to me either. When you work with lasers, you learn to be very careful whenever there’s a risk of causing eye damage, and you become quite precious about your eyesight.

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