  Joe talks about shooting down missiles with "laser beams", and asks about its applicability to nuclear physics/chemistry. Well, lasers certainly are used in all branches of science from physics to medicine, but within the area of laser technology, MTHEL doesn't really have anything to do with what physicists or chemists are intersted in.
I did a back-of-the-envelope calculation, and have determined that a laser pulse that contains the energy of the daisy-cutter, equivalent to five tons of TNT, would have a momentum of about 67 kgm/s, which is about the same as the momentum that seven fastballs have, i.e., not much. Recoil would be a non-existent problem, so maybe, if we can get a compact enough apparatus and energy source, these things *could* be mounted on planes. 
