In 1960, a scientist called Theodore H. Maiman invented the first ever laser.

65 years later, we’ve living in a laser-powered world, with the narrow light beams – ‘laser’ stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation – used across industry and technology for so many different things.

Incredibly, lasers can be used in everything from security to manufacturing, surgery to density, reading discs to military procedures.

And though some technology is advancing beyond the use of lasers, there’s no denying that they’re still a fundamental part of our technology today.

Of course, lasers can be dangerous, and due to safety concerns there are plenty of laws across the world surrounding their power and use.

However, one YouTuber – known as “styropyro” – was more than happy to flout those laws, all in the name of science, as he explains in a recent video:

“The legal power limit for a laser pointer is 5 milliwatts. Well, I think it would be funny to build one that’s 50,000 times stronger than that. I’ve showcased a lot of ridiculous portable lasers on this channel, but so far, none of them come close to that kind of power. Even my strongest laser, which was world record-breaking when I built it, isn’t even half of this level.”

In fact, the laser he built emitted the narrow beam of light at a power of 250 watts, making it not only extremely powerful but also extremely dangerous, as the YouTuber continued:

“With an output of 250 watts, this laser eclipses the threshold for the highest laser danger rating by a factor of 500. That means that just 0.2 percent of the laser’s power is already considered an instant blindness hazard, as well as a fire hazard. The luminosity of this laser is especially impressive as well, having more than quadruple the brightness of my 100-watt laser, as this one is a brighter sky blue color.”

Safe to say, this laser is not something that should be in the wrong hands.

Fortunately, styropyro has a good knowledge of what he’s doing with these lasers, and, well, hasn’t blinded himself yet.

Instead, he demonstrated the incredible power of his homemade laser by using its beam to cut through titanium, copper, tungsten, and set a diamond on fire.

And, as a real showstopper, create rubies as a result of the reaction of alumina and chromium oxide when hit by the laser.

Take a look!

The real Easter Egg here is that the very first laser – made by Theodore H. Maiman in 1960 – used rubies to create that initial light beam.

Lasers really have gone full circle.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about the mysterious “pyramids” discovered in Antarctica. What are they?