Word: lightness
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Dates: during 2010-2019
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...shootdown itself was impressive. A basketball-size beam traveling 670 million m.p.h. (1,078 km/h) - the speed of light - blazed from the 747's nose. The beam focused on the missile and - like a kid torturing an ant with a magnifying glass - incinerated it. It fit the criterion enunciated in 2008 by Boeing's laser chief Mike Rinn: "There's nothing like flaming wreckage" to prove such lasers are not science fiction. (See the obstacles in the way of the Strategic Defense Initiative...
...formation. Lockheed boasted that the test "validates the effectiveness of this revolutionary technology." Northrop declared the laser's "unprecedented mobility, precision and lethality" will lead to "game-changing technology for our military forces." Boeing said "the capability to precisely project force, in a measured way, at the speed of light, will save lives."(See a brief history of intergalactic warfare...
...according to the antimissileers. Flying lasers are the dream of Star Wars boosters, theoretically combining the speed of light with multiple shots from a single platform. Such lasers play into America's can-do hubris, compounded by the frisson of excitement generated by theoretical invulnerability they provide. "The airborne laser is initially proven and should continue to be developed, tested and even deployed if necessary," Riki Ellison, a former NFL linebacker who now heads the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, said shortly after the shootdown. "The ability of our military to use the airborne laser ... to engage and destroy multiple Iranian...
...trip to Canada, where he had noticed the many middle-aged immigrants working in shops. "Something stayed in my mind," he says. "A strange sadness set in them. A rhythm that middle-aged people have." Nair says he was true to the quietness of the character, but used a light touch. In one scene, he gives his son's blonde, American girlfriend an appreciative once-over when he meets her. Nair says it wasn't in the script, but Khan understood what a little humor can do for a serious role. It was only a brief moment, but it cracked...
...climax of the event, the Olympic torch lighting, left something to be desired: four mechanical torches were supposed to rise from the floor and be lit by Canada's most famous athletes, including hockey great Wayne Gretzky and NBA MVP Steve Nash; the four torches were designed to light the final Olympic torch. But one of the massive columns malfunctioned, leaving the athletes stranded and looking peeved in front of millions of television viewers. Eventually, though, the Olympic torch...