Optical
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Project Loon may have been deflated, but its legacy lives on in Project Taara. The team has salvaged the technology to deliver internet connectivity with lasers, demonstrating the viability in a test between two cities separated by the Congo River.
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Engineers have found a way to make liquid metals switch between reflective surfaces or those that scatter light. The transition only requires a small zap of electricity and could be used to make mirrors that can be switched on or off.
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Engineers at Stanford have created a new optical device that can easily manipulate light into basically any color desired. The system uses a series of modulators to fine-tune the frequencies of individual photons to change their color.
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Usually optical coatings either reflect or transmit a given color of light, but now researchers at the University of Rochester have developed a new class of optical coating that can both transmit and reflect the same wavelengths at the same time.
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Nokia and Vodafone have tested a new broadband technology that delivers a blistering 100 gigabits per second (Gbps). Conducted using the kind of network seen in the last mile between an ISP and a user, it could eventually be rolled out commercially.
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Japanese mathematician Kokichi Sugihara has won the annual Illusion of the Year Contest with a fascinating 3D model of a nearly 200-year old 2D illusion. The contest, run by the UK-based Neural Correlate Society has been bending brains for 16 years.
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Sci-fi has been promising holograms for decades, but they always feel out of reach. Now Samsung has made strides towards realistic holograms, with a prototype thin-panel device that can display 3D images in 4K resolution with a wide viewing angle.
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Austin-based game developer Frank Force has won the Best Illusion of the Year prize for his mind-bending yet simple animation of twisting rings that seem to be rotating in different directions simultaneously.
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The mysteries of human perception are endlessly fascinating. For over a decade the Neural Correlate Society has been running an annual competition celebrating the best new perceptual illusions, and the 2018 winners are sure to short-circuit your brain … in the best possible way.
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The concept of an invisibility cloak sounds like pure science fiction. But researchers have developed a new device that works in a completely different way to existing technology, neatly sidestepping some past issues and potentially helping to hide everyday objects under everyday conditions.
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Eye exams may be getting quicker and easier, plus ophthalmologists may be able to save money on equipment, thanks to a new instrument developed by scientists in Poland and Spain. Unlike existing eye-examining technology, it allows the entire eye (from front to back) to be imaged via a single lens.
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The 2D wonder material, graphene, has a long list of superpowers, but one thing it hasn’t been great at is absorbing light. Now, a study from the University of Central Florida (UCF) has found a way to boost graphene’s light absorption, allowing it to make better use of that energy.
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