Hello! What actually are lasers? Are they just rays of light or molecules bending through the air to create light ?

Question: Hello! What actually are lasers? Are they just rays of light or molecules bending through the air to create light ?
- Keywords:
  air,
  bend,
  how science works,
  light,
  molecule,
  ray
Asked by roisinmillar to Mike, Pip, Tianfu, Tim, Tom on 28 Jun 2012.
- Tom Lister answered on 28 Jun 2012:
  
  They are just rays of light. They are like a torch that is very well directed and usually with just one or two colours.
- Tim Stephens answered on 28 Jun 2012:
  
  Yeah, they’re a beam of light that is ‘coherent’, which means that all the peaks and troughs in the waves are lined up with one another.

Question: Hello! What actually are lasers? Are they just rays of light or molecules bending through the air to create light ?