Spark plugs have been around for a long time — 150 years or so. But vehicles may soon upgrade to a more modern tech for their engine-starting needs: lasers.
Researches from Japan have announced the creation of a laser that's small enough to replace the spark plug, while also creating cleaner, more fuel efficient vehicles. While spark plugs ignite the air-fuel mixture closest to them and flame becomes quenched by the surrounding cold metal, the new lasers would be able to focus the their beams directly into the center of the air-fuel mixture and the flame front will expand more symmetrically and up to three times faster than spark plugs.Now, these laser starters have yet to be installed in any actual cars, but if they're as great as the Japanese scientists behind them say, I'd expect them to show up in most cars eventually. Which is fine! The spark plug has served us well for a long time, but hey, who's gonna argue with having lasers in their engine? Not this guy.
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