Quote:
Originally Posted by Rawlsian
A KC professor who specializes in this stuff says it was a cheap laser pointer being used from the back of the end zone. Could definitely do damage to the retina
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Cough,
Explain
could definitely?
Scientific American
Quote:
This answer comes from Douglas A. Johnson, a senior health physicist and laser safety officer for Texas A&M University. He is also adjunct lecturer in the nuclear engineering department. Doug is a member of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for laser safety standards. (The ANSI Z136 series is recognized by OSHA, and is the authoritative laser safety document in the United States.)
Image: CNN Interactive
LASER POINTER shines into the camera lens.
Eye damage from a pocket laser is unlikely, but could be possible under certain conditions. Red laser pointers that are "properly labeled" in the 3-5 mW range have not caused eye damage -- no retinal damage has been reported -- but there are very real concerns. One is pointers not manufactured to federal specifications. There are reports that green lasers, improperly imported to the U.S., far exceed safety limits.
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In FDA-regulated pointers, the laser power limit is set at one-tenth the actual threshold of damage. If a person sees a bright light, they will automatically blink, on the average in less than 0.2 seconds. This is referred to as the blink reflex, and it is considered when the limit is assigned for how much power will cause an eye injury. By the way, you shouldn't force a stare at a laser, just like you shouldn't stare at the sun or any bright light source.
Possible more potentially damaging -- although not to the eye -- is that a regular pointer laser can overwhelm the eye with light, typically called flash blindness. If a person is walking a rocky path, operating machinery, a vehicle or aircraft, this temporary loss of vision could cause injury or disaster. At night, when the pupil is most open, the effects would be magnified.[/QUOTE]
Referred to above article by my brother in law, a Retinologist, who has only once seen lazer pointer retina damage and it was caused by laser pointer directed at an drug impaired person's eye intentionally at close range.
Looking at an eclipse is said to do the same and Trump eyes seem fine.