ZEUS – A new two-petawatt laser facility at the University of Michigan

I don't think anyone should be impressed by watts. Jouls are where all the real work is.

Asside for the PR article. What's the use case for pettawatt laser pulse lasting 25 quintillionths of a second?

Laser pulses can ablate materials and the shorter the pulse the crisper the edges. Back in the 90’s or early 00’s they demonstrated pulses laser cutting of tissue where the heat damage to surrounding tissue had a width of a single cell.

What, like a surgical laser?

"Okay, hold really still..."

At femtoseconds, assuming your tracking matches, you could probably sit a sugar-loaded kid in a chair without instructions and just make it work.

Probably like watching people play war sims with a sniper rifle. Just waiting for the crosshairs to bounce over the target’s head and then blam.

Bigger problem I suspect is children with white coat syndrome. When I was a kid doctors got away with being monstrous to children.