There's something menacing about a giant laser threatening to dismember all who cross its path. Take James Bond for example. The entire series is practically built on lasers, from satellite-packing laser beams to laser-filled lairs. There are also women involved, occasionally. But everyone really knows that 007 is all about lasers.

Obviously influenced by the famous British super spy, scientists have now proposed what could become the most fearsome laser yet — the antilaser. Instead of producing fanciful, dangerous displays of light, an antilaser would do the opposite, soaking up said light instead. The result would be darkness — perhaps making for the best 007 movie plot line yet.

In all seriousness, a proposed antilaser has never actually been built, existing only as a theory in a recent scientific journal. But scientists believe it is possible. And while it might sound silly, such a device could actually have some useful applications in the real world. 
 
Traditionally, lasers work by sending photons down a tube of light-amplifying material, producing the familiar red beam you once used to torment your high school teacher. However, by using a light-absorbing material instead — say, silicon — researchers say that the anti-laser can successfully absorb beams of light that are directed into it.
 According to A. Douglas Stone, a physicist at Yale University and a member of the antilaser team, the effect is "an amazing trick" that makes certain wavelengths of light simply disappear. What's more, the absorbing effect can be easily "tuned" to match alternate wavelengths, though researchers have only had the most success with Infrared light thus far. However it's possible that could change in the future, making more general applications viable. 

Some of those applications could include more comprehensive optical switches — or, as Wired points out, "futuristic computer boards that will use light instead of electrons." Perhaps one day, such antilasers could even become as commonplace as their traditional laser-pointing counterparts, allowing us to create darkness and absorb light on a whim.

What you can be sure of is that antilasers won't be finding their way into the next James Bond film anytime soon. Something tells me they just aren't evil enough. 
 
Images via Flickr user Anriduh Koul and Craig A Rodway.