Number 69 (Story #5), February 27, 1992 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein POLARIZED BEAMS AND TARGETS for particle-physics experiments can often be achieved with the help of laser light. "One watt of laser light contains about the same number of photons as there are electrons in one ampere of current," according to Olin van Dyck of Los Alamos. Although the transfer of polarization from the photons in a polarized laser beam to electrons in, say, a photocathode, is inefficient, polarizations above 50% are common. Record-high proton polarizations of 78% have been achieved with this method at TRIUMF, the accelerator in Vancouver. (CERN Courier, Feb. 1992.)