Unlike Bilbo’s magic ring, which entangles human hearts, engineers have created a new micro-ring that entangles individual particles of light, an important first step in a whole host of new technologies. Entanglement – the instantaneous connection between two particles no matter their distance apart – is one of the most intriguing and promising phenomena in […]
Novel Coating Gives LEDs a Cozy, Warm Glow
When the 2014 Nobel Prize in physics was awarded this October to three Japanese-born scientists for the invention of blue light emitting diodes (LEDs), the prize committee declared LED lamps would light the 21st century. Now researchers from the Netherlands have found a novel way to ensure the lights of the future not only are […]
Smartphones Team-Up with QR Codes for Secure 3D Displays
Quick Response (QR) codes – the box-shaped symbols that appear on signs, posters, and even business cards – are a convenient and efficient way of accessing specific web pages with a smartphone or other mobile device. However, new research published in The Optical Society’s (OSA) new high-impact journal Optica, explains how QR codes can do […]
No Power Source Needed with Ultra-Thin 3D Display
At first glance, the static, greyscale display created by a group of researchers from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, China might not catch the eye of a thoughtful consumer in a market saturated with flashy, colorful electronics. But a closer look at the specs could change that: the ultra-thin LCD screen described […]
Magnetic Mirrors Enable New Tech by Reflecting Light in Uncanny Ways
As in Alice’s journey through the looking-glass to Wonderland, mirrors in the real world can sometimes behave in surprising and unexpected ways, including a new class of mirror that works like no other. As reported today in The Optical Society’s (OSA) new high-impact journal Optica, scientists have demonstrated, for the first time, a new type […]
Self-Cooling Solar Cells Boost Power, Last Longer
Scientists may have overcome one of the major hurdles in developing high-efficiency, long-lasting solar cells—keeping them cool, even in the blistering heat of the noonday Sun. By adding a specially patterned layer of silica glass to the surface of ordinary solar cells, a team of researchers led by Shanhui Fan, an electrical engineering professor at […]
Tiny Camera Records Crime Scene Details
To capture all the details of a crime scene, you might take many photos at close range. To get the whole scene at once, you could use a wide-angle or fisheye lens; but without an especially large lens you would be sacrificing the fine resolution that would help you catch that partial footprint you might […]
Researchers slow light to a crawl in liquid crystal matrix
New technique could find uses in highly sensitive interferometers and other measuring device WASHINGTON, Aug. 13, 2013—Light traveling in a vacuum is the Universe’s ultimate speed demon, racing along at approximately 300,000 kilometers per second. Now scientists have found an effective new way to put a speed bump in light’s path. Reported today in The […]
Flex-Grid System Prevents Optical Network ‘Traffic Jams’
Services like Google Maps use algorithms to determine the fastest route from point A to point B—even factoring in real-time traffic information as you travel to redirect you if, for example, a parade is blocking part of your route. Now, a team of researchers from Spain and Japan have achieved this kind of traffic control […]