What are you using the lasers for? Is it just to create extreem states of matter or do you use them for other things

Question: What are you using the lasers for? Is it just to create extreem states of matter or do you use them for other things too (and is this particular lazer different to lazers which you can use to 'scan' things onto a computer - both paper and scanning 3D objects into CAD programmes)?
- Keywords:
  extreme states of matter,
  laser
Asked by zoe1 to Peta on 22 Nov 2011. This question was also asked by dani222, laurenkb98, jakehaighting.
- Peta Foster answered on 22 Nov 2011:
  
  My laser is just a much much more intense laser that the ones in scanners etc but the principle is the same. We wanted to see what would happen if you heated something up so fast that it didn’t even have time to expand… and lots of exciting things start happen when you accelerate particles up to high speed… their mass increases for one thing 🙂

Question: What are you using the lasers for? Is it just to create extreem states of matter or do you use them for other things too (and is this particular lazer different to lazers which you can use to 'scan' things onto a computer - both paper and scanning 3D objects into CAD programmes)?