This paper describes a new positron source produced using ultra-intense short-pulse lasers. Although it has been studied in theory since as early as the 1970s, the use of lasers as a valuable new positron source was not demonstrated experimentally until recent years, when the petawatt-class short-pulse lasers were developed. In 2008 and 2009, in a series of experiments performed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a large number of positrons were observed after shooting a millimeter thick solid gold target. Up to 2×10¹⁰ positrons per steradian ejected out the back of ~ mm thick gold targets were detected. The targets were illuminated with short (~1 ps) ultra-intense (~1×10²⁰ W/cm²) laser pulses. These positrons are produced predominantly by the Bethe-Heitler process, and have an effective temperature of 2–4 MeV, with the distribution peaking at 4–7 MeV. The angular distribution of the positrons is anisotropic. These unique characteristics may enable this new positron source to contribute to the positron science community.