Harvard has reported a breakthrough artificial eye just 30 microns in depth which can exceed the capabilities of the human eye. The technology could make a real impact in all manner of optical fields, including those in cameras, telescopes, microscopes, glasses and even virtual reality.
Continue Reading
Researchers have developed a new technique to make metamaterials with nanoscale structures that can be tuned with strange optical properties. Using DNA-modified gold nanoparticles, the team could change the material's color, opening the door for new sensors or cloaking devices.
Continue Reading
Quantum encryption could make for much less hackable communication networks. But for it to really take off it needs to work out in the real world, among other signals and natural air turbulence. Now, researchers have successfully sent a message with 4D quantum encryption between two rooftops.
Continue Reading
The “perfect” laser would emit light at one wavelength, but current technology can’t achieve that yet, shining across the spectrum in what scientists call “linewidth.” Now researchers have developed the world’s sharpest laser, with a linewidth of just 10 mHz (0.01 Hz).
Continue Reading
Researchers at Stanford University have built some VR display prototypes that adapt to the eyes of each wearer, which could pave the way for more comfortable virtual experiences for everyone, regardless of age, eyesight or focusing problems.
Continue Reading
A cutting edge light retardant coating designed to reduce the interference to the delicate optical equipment mounted on space probes is being put through its paces aboard the Kent Ridge 1 satellite, which launched into low-Earth orbit (LEO) in Dec. 2015.
Continue Reading
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a robotic hand with "eyes" built into its fingers, making it far more sensitive to position and force than conventional machine grippers.
Continue Reading
Researchers at the University of Houston (UH) have created a polymer lens designed to fit on almost any smartphone and to magnify images up to 120 times their original size, all at an estimated production cost of just three cents per lens.
Continue Reading
April 24 will mark a significant milestone in the life of one of mankind's greatest scientific instruments – the 25-year anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope. Join us as we celebrate the history and achievements of the telescope that inspired a generation.
Continue Reading
Researchers have created a prototype optical antenna that is claimed to increase the intensity of emission from a nanorod light source by more than 115 times. This technique may offer the opportunity to replace power-hungry lasers with LEDs in short-range optical communications devices.
Continue Reading
See the stories that matter in your inbox every morning