LIVERMORE, Calif. — The world’s most powerful laser, created to help keep tabs on the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile while also studying the heavens, has been unveiled.
The super laser, known officially as the National Ignition Facility, was shown off Friday at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
The NIF, which is the size of a football field, consists of 192 separate laser beams, each traveling 1,000 feet in one-thousandth of a second to converge simultaneously on a target the size of a pencil eraser.
Federal officials said they planned to use it on a multifaceted assignment that would include ensuring aging nuclear weapons are functioning properly without resorting to underground testing.
Other uses will include the study of astrophysics and experiments in developing green energy programs.
Beginning next year, scientists also will use the laser for experiments aimed at creating controlled fusion reactions similar to those found in the sun.
Gas prices up 19 cents
The U.S. price of gasoline jumped 19 cents a gallon during the past two weeks, but remains well below prices from a year ago, according to the national Lundberg Survey of fuel prices released Sunday in Camarillo. Analyst Trilby Lundberg says the average price of regular gasoline was $2.49 a gallon Friday, when the survey was completed. Tucson, Ariz., had the country’s lowest price — $2.22 for a gallon of regular. The highest was in Chicago, at $2.76.
Nevada: Lawmakers override veto of partnership bill
Nevada’s Assembly voted Sunday to override Gov. Jim Gibbons’ veto and to change state law so that domestic partners, whether gay or straight, have many of the rights and benefits that Nevada offers to married couples. The Assembly’s 28-14 vote — the bare two-thirds majority needed — followed the state Senate’s vote a day earlier to enact the measure into state lawbooks over the conservative Republican governor’s objections.
Florida: ‘Father Oprah’ gives first Episcopalian sermon
A popular Miami priest nicknamed “Father Oprah” said Sunday that “church is about forgiveness” during his first sermon since leaving the Roman Catholic Church to become Episcopalian amid an uproar over published photos of him kissing his girlfriend on the beach. The Rev. Alberto Cutie gave the sermon at the Episcopal Church of The Resurrection in Miami. Episcopal priests can marry, unlike their Catholic counterparts. It will take him at least a year to become a priest in his new church. He has not said if he plans to marry her, but noted in a statement last week that as he became an Episcopalian, he “has seen the ways that many of my brothers serve God as married men.”
Cuba: Immigration, mail talks with U.S. to resume
Cuba has agreed to resume talks with the Obama administration on legal immigration of Cubans to the United States and direct mail service between the two countries in a move welcomed by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The communist government notified the U.S. on Saturday that it had accepted an administration overture made May 22 to restart the immigration talks, suspended by then-President George W. Bush after the last meeting in 2003. Cuba also expressed a willingness to cooperate with the U.S. on fighting terrorism and drug trafficking, and on hurricane disaster preparedness.
Israel: No Arab loyalty oaths
The Israeli government on Sunday threw out a proposal aimed at minority Arabs to require an oath of loyalty to Israel as a Jewish state or risk losing their citizenship. Arabs make up about one-fifth of Israel’s 7 million citizens. The draft would have allowed the Interior Ministry to strip even native Israelis of their nationality if they refused to swear allegiance to the Jewish state and “its symbols and values” and profess their willingness to perform military service.
West Bank: Factions clash
Palestinian Authority security forces clashed with Hamas militants in Qalqilyah early Sunday, leaving six dead, including three police officers, in the bloodiest confrontation between the rival Palestinian factions in two years.
Iran: Bomb on airplane
An Iranian airliner was forced to return to a southern airport minutes after takeoff late Saturday night when a homemade bomb was found aboard, said state television. The report said the bomb was found in a toilet, but gave no other details on the device.
From Herald news services
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