The surgeon lased the elongated soft palate, cutting off the excess tissue and stopping the blood flow in one swipe.
The physical chemist lased the atoms as they passed between the electrodes to study their motion.
2010 (publication date), Daniel Lametti, "The Proton Gets Small(er)", Discover, ISSN 0274-7529, volume 32, number 1, January–February 2011, page 67:
When a laser zaps an electron orbiting a proton, the electron undergoes what is called the Lamb shift, absorbing energy and jumping to a higher energy level. […] But instead of lasing electrons, Knowles examined protons with particles called muons, which he calls "the electon's fat cousin."