Using the Nike krypton fluoride laser at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington DC, USA, a team of scientists achieved velocities greater than 1,000 km/s (621.37 mi/s) on Earth. The energy from the laser pushed a 300-micrometre (below 12 thousandths of an inch) sphere to a speed of 1,000 km/s – approximately 300 km/s (186.41 mi/s) faster than previous attempts. The particle was accelerated as part of an experiment in internal fusion, to probe possibilities for future clean-energy sources. The results were published in 2010.
