Light

How many galaxies are there in the observable universe? Not as many as we thought, according to a new study. NASA’s New Horizons probe has measured the blackness of the sky and found that there’s probably “only” a few hundred billion faint galaxies.

When taken orally or intravenously, medications typically travel throughout the body, producing unwanted side effects. MIT scientists are working on an alternative, that delivers both light and a light-activated drug directly to the target area.

Astronomers have precisely measured the distance to the oldest and farthest known galaxy. Light left GN-z11 around 13.4 billion years ago, when the universe was a cosmic toddler, meaning this galaxy marks the very edge of the observable universe.

Researchers at Lancaster University have developed a new material that can store energy for months, and potentially years, at a time. The material can be activated by light, and then release the pent-up energy on demand in the form of heat.

A simple home test for breast cancer and a UV energy-harvesting window made of recycled materials are the big winners of this year’s James Dyson Awards. The annual competition encourages university students to develop innovative solutions to problems.

We've seen a few learning systems that help students to learn at their own pace by having them follow lights to form chords on a guitar or nail songs on a piano keyboard. The latest from Yamaha to do so is the EZ-300, which comes with songs built-in.

Astronomers at Ohio State University have taken the mean temperature of cosmic gas at different distances and ages, and found that it’s roughly 10 times hotter today than it was 10 billion years ago, thanks to the evolution of galaxies and clusters.

An Alphabet X innovation lab project has been working on a high-speed wireless optical communications network that uses beams of light instead of cables or radio waves, and folks in Kenya will be the first to benefit from the fruits of these labors.

In summer months sunlight comes with an unwanted side order of heat. Now, researchers have developed windows that can change color automatically when heated by sunlight, to keep buildings cool – and to top it off, they’re solar panels as well.

Physicists in Germany have measured the shortest timespan ever recorded. The team measured the time it takes for a photon of light to travel the length of a hydrogen molecule, and found it to occur in just trillionths of a billionth of a second.

One method of 3D printing involves selectively exposing liquid resin to ultraviolet (UV) light, causing that resin to harden into a solid. Now, scientists have developed a new resin that works with safer, more energy-efficient visible light.

Three years ago, scientists from the University of Arizona reported that exposure to green light appeared to reduce neuropathic pain in rats. Now, the researchers believe that such light could also be used to treat migraine headaches in humans.