Page 1 of 4 1234 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 37

Thread: Tasteing your laser!?!?!

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Cairns, Australia
    Posts
    1,896

    Default Tasteing your laser!?!?!

    I saw this on LPF and thought I'd bring it over here too. If you have a lowish powered laser (10mw-50mw), try shining it at your tongue!! Numrous people on LPF noticed a coppery taste, and I tasted it too. I am thinking the laser is just messing with your tastebuds, but either way its VERY weird!!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Yorkshire, UK
    Posts
    4,585

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Things View Post
    ...but either way its VERY weird!!
    AND, very dangerous too !

    The tongue is a very sensitive organ, would you point a 50mW laser at your testicles?

    Hmmm... No, I thought not. Still, it could possibly be a new way of self cauterizing tongue piercing

    Copper taste ?... Was the guy using a copper vapor laser ???

    It never ceases to amaze me what people will try on themselves. Oh, look, here's my laser, now then what can I possibly do with it that will... a] inflict pain, b] cause possible cellular damage, or c] make me go blind. Or even d] Insert your own suggestion here.

    Jem
    Quote: "There is a theory which states that if ever, for any reason, anyone discovers what exactly the Universe is for and why it is here it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another that states that this has already happened.”... Douglas Adams 1952 - 2001

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Melbourne, Australia
    Posts
    3,702

    Wink

    I personally prefer to chew on the cables.
    KVANT Australian projector sales
    https://www.facebook.com/kvantaus/

    Lasershowparts- Laser Parts at great prices
    https://www.facebook.com/lasershowparts/

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Cairns, Australia
    Posts
    1,896

    Default

    I did it wwith a 10mw green, safe enough. i dont wanna go any higher tho :P

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Connecticut, USA
    Posts
    2,478

    Default

    is this a joke??

    its light. you cant "taste" light. you were prob tasting the EFFECTS of shining a beam of radiation on your tongue!! which, by the way, and i mean this in the most respectable way possible...
    what the hell are you doing??

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Central Florida
    Posts
    7,067

    Post Darwin award waiting to happen...

    That copper taste is probably the taste of dying cells...
    Love, peace, and grease,

    allthat... aka: aaron@pangolin

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Stockholm, Sweden
    Posts
    799

    Default

    I wouldn't call the tongue a very sensitive organ. Just think, how many times haven't you bitten yourself in the tongue or burnt it on hot coffee? Sure hurts like hell for a while, but the effects are only temporary. I'd say the tongue is a pretty safe target for lasers as long as some common sense is used (stop if it starts smoking).

    Now, the coppery taste I cannot reproduce on myself. I've tried several lasers of different wavelengths and the only effect I notice is a warming sensation on the tip of my tongue.

    Regarding the taste/smell of copper I'd say copper itself is tasteless and of course has no smell. You might argue that copper coins are typically very smelly, but that's only because copper catalyzes the oxidation of certain alcohols present on your skin into some very smelly aldehydes. Perhaps the same alcohols are present in your breath, so that you're exposing some copper surfaces on the laser to this? Too farfetched?

    Personally I associate the taste of copper/iron with hurting myself. Strangely enough I usually get that taste in my mouth just before the actual damage is inflicted; the moment you realize "oh, shit... this is going to hurt". Psychological phenomenon?

  8. #8
    soforene's Avatar
    soforene is offline The Troll formerly known as Herbert Von Poople-Futtocks
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Posts
    2,928

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by tocket View Post
    ... I'd say the tongue is a pretty safe target for lasers as long as some common sense is used (stop if it starts smoking).
    I personally would stop before the smoke, when the pain starts kicking in.
    But I'm not Swedish.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Cairns, Australia
    Posts
    1,896

    Default

    I'm not saying you can actually "Taste" the beam as such, I was just saying that sometimes when you shine a laser on your tongue, you get a weird coppery taste. It could simply be the tastebuds picking up the energy nd converting it to some kind of taste. I dunno. but I know its not the photons your tasting :P

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Cleveland, Ohio
    Posts
    2,342

    Default

    What they are probably tasting is the metal of the laser after they accidentally touch it to their tongue.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •