ZEUS Is Officially America’s Most Powerful Laser, With 2-Petawatt Blast

The ZEUS laser at the University of Michigan has just achieved a milestone with its most powerful laser beam ever created—2 petawatts, or 100 times Earth's total energy output. This fleeting pulse, lasting mere fractions of a second, is already enabling revolutionary experiments in fields like quantum physics, particle acceleration, and medical imaging. Funded by the NSF, ZEUS allows scientists to explore extreme physics conditions, from plasma studies to astrophysics, with applications ranging from high-energy particle beams to advanced imaging technologies. Upgraded with a titanium crystal next year, ZEUS promises to push scientific boundaries even further.