Lasers :: essays research papers

When most people see a laser beam they are amazed by its unique physical properties. Laser light is so unique from other light because it is coherent; unlike ordinary light, which travels in all directions, laser light travels in a straight beam. The word laser is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. The history of the laser is very interesting. Lasers have changed immensely since they were first invented. Before the laser was invented, Charles Townes developed the maser in 1954. The maser has basically the same principles as the laser, but it involves microwaves instead of light. The maser lead Theodore Maximan to assemble the first working laser in 1960; he did this by applying the masers qualities to light. This first solid-state laser was a ruby crystal laser. A year after the first solid-state laser was invented, the first gas laser was constructed by Ali Javan, W. R. Bennett, and D. R. Herriot. This was a helium-neon laser. The helium-neon laser is the most common laser found today. Many other types of lasers have been invented since then: the semiconductor laser (1962), the chemical laser (1964), the liquid laser (1966), and the free electron laser (1977). All lasers work basically on the same principles. First the atoms in the substance used are pumped. For example, the helium and neon would be pumped in a helium-neon laser. This is where the electrons of the atoms jump to higher orbitals, which have more energy. The substance can be pumped by using flashlamps, other lasers, atomic explosions, electric discharges, solar energy, and etc... When the atoms are pumped, they perform stimulated emission. This is where the electrons are stimulated by photons to release coherent photons of a single frequency and color. After the pumping process, the oscillation process takes place. In this process energy is amplified to make it stronger and more useful. This is done by bouncing the photons between two mirrors until they reach a certain intensity. The two mirrors are one of 100 percent efficiency and one of a lesser efficiency. When the photons reach the certain intensity, they leave the mirror of lesser efficiency in a coherent beam. There are basically four main types of lasers: solid-state, gas, liquid, and semi-conductor. Solid-state lasers are made from a crystalline material such as ruby. The crystals have impurities in them that can be stimulated to release radiation in a coherent fashion. These impurities are needed to make the laser last for long periods of time. If the crystals do not have impurities, then they can have some added; this is called "doping." The crystals in solid state lasers are usually pumped by using flashlamps. Gas laser beams are much more

Oppisition Arguments Essay

Animals deserve the same rights as people because they can feel pain; therefore, everyone in the world should become vegetarians. Animals do not deserve the same rights as humans. If so then we should give plants and vegetables rights as well. We kill a lot more plants then we do animals, so I believe that everyone should eat strictly meat only. America should not act as a â€Å"World Policeman† because it has enough domestic issues of its own to deal with. Even though America has a lot bases throughout the world, this does not mean that we are the world Policeman. We are just helping our allies so we could keep trading with these countries for natural Resources. Immigration should be allowed without any caps because it brings in skilled workers and increases the cultural variety of American Society. If we decided to take the cap off on immigration then we can see a lot more businesses hiring cheaper labor which means the unemployment percentage will go up and cause us to have another great depression. Parents should never be held responsible for the crimes of their juvenile children because children should be held responsible for their own actions, even if it means trying them as an adult. Parents should be held responsible for their kids because it is their job to raise them and look after them. If they were watching their kids then their kids probably wouldn’t be committing crimes. Beauty pageants are a fantastic way for young girls to increase their self-esteem, practice public speaking and cultivate their talents. Beauty pageants are one of the worst places for young girls to increase self-esteem. You’re in a competition were all the contestants are trying to be the most beautiful of them all and will try to put you down to win.

Functional Immunity

This type of immunity arises from  customary international law  and  treaty law  and confers immunities on those performing acts of state (usually a foreign official). Any person who in performing an act of state commits a criminal offence is immune from prosecution. This is so even after the person ceases to perform acts of state. Thus it is a type of immunity limited in the acts to which it attaches (acts of state) but will only end if the state itself ceases to exist.This type of immunity is based on respect for sovereign equality and state dignity. The offices usually recognised as attracting this immunity are Head of State or Head of Government, senior cabinet members, Foreign Minister, and Minister for Defence: see the  Arrest Warrant Case,Pinochet Case  (R v Bow Street Magistrates; ex parte Pinochet Ugarte (No 3)  [2000] 1 AC 147, House of Lords).Such officers are immune from prosecution for everything they do during their time in office. For example, an English court held that a warrant could not be issued for the arrest of  Robert Mugabe  on charges of international crimes on the basis that he was a presently serving Head of State at the time the proceedings were brought:  Mugabe, reported at (2004) 53 ICLQ 789. Other examples are the attempts to prosecute  Fidel Castro  in Spain and  Jiang Zemin  in the USA.However, the moment accused leaves office, they are liable to be prosecuted for crimes committed before or after their term in office, or for crimes committed whilst in office in a personal capacity (subject to jurisdictional requirements and local law). Pinochet  was only able to come to trial because Chile and the UK had both signed and ratified the UN Convention Against Torture through which such immunities were waived. It may be the case that personal immunity is itself being eroded.In 2004 the Appeals Chamber of the  Special Court for Sierra Leone  held that indicted Liberian president  Charles Taylor  cou ld not invoke his Head of State immunity to resist the charges against him, even though he was an incumbent Head of State at the time of his indictment. However, this reasoning was based on the construction of the court's constituent statute, that dealt with the matter of indicting state officials. In any case, Taylor had ceased to be an incumbent Head of State by the time of the court's decision so the arresting authorities would have een free to issue a fresh warrant had the initial warrant been overturned. Nevertheless, this decision may signal a changing direction in international law on this issue. Recent developments in international law suggest that this type of immunity, whilst it may be available as a defence to prosecution for local or domestic crimes or civil liability, is not a defence to an international crime. (International crimes include  crimes against humanity,  war crimes, and  genocide).This has developed in the jurisprudence of the International Criminal T ribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, particularly in the  Karadzic,  Milosevic, and  Furundzija  cases (though care should be taken when considering ICTY jurisprudence due to its  Ad-hoc  nature). This was also the agreed position as between the parties in their pleadings in the  International Court of Justice  Case Concerning the Arrest Warrant of 11 April 2000 (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Belgium).The reasons commonly given for why this immunity is not available as a defense to international crimes is straight forward: (1) that is genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity are not acts of state. Criminal acts of the type in question are committed by human actors, not states; and (2) we cannot allow the  jus cogens  nature of international crimes, i. e. the fact that they are  non-derogable  norms, to be eroded by immunities. However, the final judgment of the ICJ regarding immunity may have thrown the existence of such a rule limiting functional immunities into doubt.See in this respect the criticism of the ICJ's approach by Wouters, Cassese and Wirth among others, though some such as Bassiouni claim that the ICJ affirmed the existence of the rule. Regarding claims based on the idea that a senior state official committing International crimes can never be said to be acting officially, as Wouters notes â€Å"This argument, however, is not waterproof since it ignores the sad reality that in most cases those crimes are precisely committed by or with the support of high-ranking officials as part of a state’s policy, and thus can fall within the scope of official acts. Academic opinion on the matter is divided and indeed only the future development of International Customary law, possibly accelerated by states exercising  universal jurisdiction  over retired senior state officials, will be able to confirm whether state sovereignty has now yielded partially to internationally held human rights values.In November 2007 , French prosecutors refused to press charges against former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for torture and other alleged crimes committed during the course of the US invasion of Iraq, on the grounds that heads of state enjoyed official immunity under customary international law, and they further claimed that the immunity exists after the official has left office. [1]