It’s one of those projects that could quite plausibly change the direction of human history if it lives up to its potential.

The Romanian laser, part of the trippy-sounding Extreme Light Infrastructure project, is so powerful that when fully operational it will pack more punch that all the world’s electric power combined. And then some.

Scientists aren’t building a death ray for James Bond’s latest megalomaniac villain: they’re testing a tool that could be used to detect cancer-busting radioisotopes or destroy nuclear waste, revolutionising the way we produce our power.

On an even grander scale, the laser, which has to date only been tested at about a third of its full potential, could prove a cheaper and more manageable alternative to Switzerland’s Large Hadron Collider.

The theory goes that a laser beam could accelerate particles to the same or even greater extent than Cern’s mega-sized underground machine and would eliminate the need to build a larger collider to push the envelop even further.

Cern’s most mainstream success story is the discovery of the Higgs boson particle – sensationally dubbed the “God particle” – which has helped revolutionise particle physics and everything connected to their study.

To explore brave new frontiers the existing collider could prove to be too small in scale (despite already running over 20 miles underneath the Swiss Alps) and building an even larger one would need billions in investment.

Romania’s laser, primarily built with EU funding, cost just over €300 million.

Not that money should be the primary factor when considering the cost/benefit ratio of these moonshot projects, given the scale of the challenges we are already facing and the known-unknowns we are almost certainly going to encounter in the coming years.

Take energy production. Heavily linked to climate change, economic growth and increasing populations, the idealistic solution of powering all our vehicles, lighting our streets and heating our homes with renewable energy just does not square with our current reality.

Major reports by the UN and energy agencies have all acknowledged that for better or worse, nuclear power will have to play a role in our power games, given its low-carbon footprint and in spite of its financial and safety concerns.

If laser tech could render the disposal of spent nuclear fuel a routine and simple procedure, with minimal safety risks that doesn’t involve burying the archetypal glowing green barrel deep in underground caverns, then the game changes.

Atomic technology is developing at a pace comparable to other energy tech like wind and solar, so if the main reason that turns public opinion against atom-smashing is addressed then avenues are opened up.

Which brings us to another moonshot project, this time located in southern France.

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor – or ITER facility – is a large-scale attempt to show that fusion works, by producing more heat than is used to heat the plasma at the heart of its technology. A feat not yet achieved.

Funded mostly by the EU due to the fact that it hosts the project, ITER also counts Japan, Korea, the US, India, China and Russia as its partners. Construction costs have already run into the billions and full testing is not even due to start for well over a decade.

Which begs the question: why isn’t there more of this?

The Manhattan project is probably a controversial example, given that it led to the creation of a weapon that could prove to be humanity’s doom, but the resources and time pumped into that programme is the kind of commitment needed in this day and age.

Rightly or wrongly, the project that birthed the nuclear bomb was a reaction to what was deemed an existential threat. We are collectively bearing down on a number of bona fide world-ending threats at the moment, so perhaps we need a resurrection of that attitude.

It’s one of those projects that could quite plausibly change the direction of human history if it lives up to its potential.

The Romanian laser, part of the trippy-sounding Extreme Light Infrastructure project, is so powerful that when fully operational it will pack more punch that all the world’s electric power combined. And then some.

Scientists aren’t building a death ray for James Bond’s latest megalomaniac villain: they’re testing a tool that could be used to detect cancer-busting radioisotopes or destroy nuclear waste, revolutionising the way we produce our power.

On an even grander scale, the laser, which has to date only been tested at about a third of its full potential, could prove a cheaper and more manageable alternative to Switzerland’s Large Hadron Collider.

The theory goes that a laser beam could accelerate particles to the same or even greater extent than Cern’s mega-sized underground machine and would eliminate the need to build a larger collider to push the envelop even further.

Cern’s most mainstream success story is the discovery of the Higgs boson particle – sensationally dubbed the “God particle” – which has helped revolutionise particle physics and everything connected to their study.

To explore brave new frontiers the existing collider could prove to be too small in scale (despite already running over 20 miles underneath the Swiss Alps) and building an even larger one would need billions in investment.

Romania’s laser, primarily built with EU funding, cost just over €300 million.

Not that money should be the primary factor when considering the cost/benefit ratio of these moonshot projects, given the scale of the challenges we are already facing and the known-unknowns we are almost certainly going to encounter in the coming years.

Take energy production. Heavily linked to climate change, economic growth and increasing populations, the idealistic solution of powering all our vehicles, lighting our streets and heating our homes with renewable energy just does not square with our current reality.

Major reports by the UN and energy agencies have all acknowledged that for better or worse, nuclear power will have to play a role in our power games, given its low-carbon footprint and in spite of its financial and safety concerns.

If laser tech could render the disposal of spent nuclear fuel a routine and simple procedure, with minimal safety risks that doesn’t involve burying the archetypal glowing green barrel deep in underground caverns, then the game changes.

Atomic technology is developing at a pace comparable to other energy tech like wind and solar, so if the main reason that turns public opinion against atom-smashing is addressed then avenues are opened up.

Which brings us to another moonshot project, this time located in southern France.

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor – or ITER facility – is a large-scale attempt to show that fusion works, by producing more heat than is used to heat the plasma at the heart of its technology. A feat not yet achieved.

Funded mostly by the EU due to the fact that it hosts the project, ITER also counts Japan, Korea, the US, India, China and Russia as its partners. Construction costs have already run into the billions and full testing is not even due to start for well over a decade.

Which begs the question: why isn’t there more of this?

The Manhattan project is probably a controversial example, given that it led to the creation of a weapon that could prove to be humanity’s doom, but the resources and time pumped into that programme is the kind of commitment needed in this day and age.

Rightly or wrongly, the project that birthed the nuclear bomb was a reaction to what was deemed an existential threat. We are collectively bearing down on a number of bona fide world-ending threats at the moment, so perhaps we need a resurrection of that attitude.