3 ms·

https://www.funraniumlabs.com/2024/07/how-i-got-my-laser-eye-injury/ https://www.funraniumlabs.com/2024/07/how-i-got-my-laser-eye... A fun related story about

https://www.funraniumlabs.com/2024/07/how-i-got-my-laser-eye-injury/ https://www.funraniumlabs.com/2024/07/how-i-got-my-laser-eye... A fun related story about how even nominally professionals need adult oversight when working with high powered lasers.

NetOpWibby 6mo ago
Holy shit what a story. JFC
hsuduebc2 6mo ago
lol, nice to know that I can go blind just randomly while working on the street. I'm kinda curious what was sum of the damage in the end.
- cyberax 6mo ago
  With high-powered lasers, you can go blind instantly. I also worked with lasers (in a lab, with all the safety precautions), yet I have slight eye damage in one eye. There's a small burnt patch on my fovea, so if I look at something like a regular grid (e.g. a page with text) with the damaged eye, the grid becomes warped at the point of focus. And I found out about that only when I was doing a regular planned eye exam (I was wearing corrective glasses). This type of damage is extremely common with lasers, and it can stay invisible and compound until the brain runs out of its ability to do fixes in post-processing.
  - hsuduebc2 6mo ago
    Wow. As my only experience with lasers is playing with laser pointer I suppose the laser damage of this type is mostly by multiple reflections that are not really even seen by visible eye or scattered beam reflected from some surface you are not expecting it from?
    - cyberax 6mo ago
      This type of damage is common if you look at the spot that the laser makes on an object. Your eye automatically focuses it into the foveal area. I don't remember ever doing that without protective glasses, but evidently I did at some point.
IAmBroom 6mo ago
Yeah, late one day in the lab, tired, aligning lasers, I used a mirror to check alignment because I knew I shouldn't put my eye in the path - so, like a complete, overtired idiot, I put the path in my eye instead. And thought, Hey, that wasn't very smart! And Wow! I am (temporarily) blind. It wasn't an eye-threat-level laser. Thankfully. Which is why one wears bandgap glasses when working with those: it's SO easy to mess up!

NetOpWibby 6mo ago

Holy shit what a story. JFC

hsuduebc2 6mo ago

lol, nice to know that I can go blind just randomly while working on the street. I'm kinda curious what was sum of the damage in the end.

cyberax 6mo ago
With high-powered lasers, you can go blind instantly. I also worked with lasers (in a lab, with all the safety precautions), yet I have slight eye damage in one eye. There's a small burnt patch on my fovea, so if I look at something like a regular grid (e.g. a page with text) with the damaged eye, the grid becomes warped at the point of focus. And I found out about that only when I was doing a regular planned eye exam (I was wearing corrective glasses). This type of damage is extremely common with lasers, and it can stay invisible and compound until the brain runs out of its ability to do fixes in post-processing.
- hsuduebc2 6mo ago
  Wow. As my only experience with lasers is playing with laser pointer I suppose the laser damage of this type is mostly by multiple reflections that are not really even seen by visible eye or scattered beam reflected from some surface you are not expecting it from?
  - cyberax 6mo ago
    This type of damage is common if you look at the spot that the laser makes on an object. Your eye automatically focuses it into the foveal area. I don't remember ever doing that without protective glasses, but evidently I did at some point.

IAmBroom 6mo ago

Yeah, late one day in the lab, tired, aligning lasers, I used a mirror to check alignment because I knew I shouldn't put my eye in the path - so, like a complete, overtired idiot, I put the path in my eye instead. And thought, Hey, that wasn't very smart! And Wow! I am (temporarily) blind. It wasn't an eye-threat-level laser. Thankfully. Which is why one wears bandgap glasses when working with those: it's SO easy to mess up!