Yeah, so this is terrifying:

That's the creation of science student Drake Anthony, whose nom de YouTube is The DIY Laser Guy. Anthony started with a toy called an "Attacknid," which can fire foam darts and balls, and upgraded its firepower with almost alarming ease:

Anthony called it "my most terrifying laser creation as of yet"…but that was in 2013. The following year he upgraded it with a camera so that he could guide it to destroy things without needing to be in the room:

The spider-bot is armed with a 2-watt laser. More recently, Anthony created a "laser shotgun" with an effective 40 watts:

I'm digging Anthony's earnest presentation and how you can hear his voice getting deeper over the years. Also, it's bright kids like this that will propel us into the future. I think all of us Americans dream of the day that we can stop arguing about gun control, and start arguing about laser control!