How to turn sulfur waste into night-vision goggles
Sulfur left over from refining fossil fuels can be transformed into cheap, lightweight, plastic lenses for infrared devices, including night-vision goggles, new research shows. Scientists successfully...
View ArticleGalaxy bends light to create 4 views of supernova
The sky is filled with “magnifying glasses” that allow astronomers to study very distant objects barely visible with even the largest existing telescopes. Using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope,...
View ArticleTiny flat lens is less bulky than curvy one
Most lenses rely on a curved shape to bend and focus light. But these lenses take up too much space in consumer electronics and fiber-optic systems. In recent years scientists have started crafting...
View ArticleThese compound lenses work like insect eyes
The compound eyes found in insects and some sea creatures are marvels of evolution. There, thousands of lenses work together to provide sophisticated information without the need for a sophisticated...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Slinky ‘hyperlens’ lets us see super tiny things
It looks like a Slinky suspended in motion, but this metamaterial hyperlens doesn’t climb down stairs. Instead, it improves our ability to see tiny objects and could one day help detect lethal forms of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Camera prototype is thinner than a dime
A patented prototype called FlatCam is little more than a thin sensor chip with a mask that replaces lenses in a traditional camera. Sophisticated computer algorithms are what make it practical—they...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Metal lens focuses beam of terahertz radiation
Tests of a new lens made of 32 metal plates show it outperforms similar silicon and Teflon lenses to focus terahertz radiation. The journal Nature Scientific Reports published the results. “Now we can...
View Article‘Tear machine’ might make contact lenses less painful
Engineers have built a device that mimics the surface of the eye in an attempt to make wearing contact lenses all day less irritating. The work was inspired in part by a graduate student’s dry eyes....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ultra-thin camera design doesn’t need a lens
Traditional cameras—even those on the thinnest of cell phones—cannot be truly flat due to their optics: lenses that require a certain shape and size in order to function. A new camera design replaces...
View ArticleHyperlens crystal could show us living cells in new detail
Researchers report an advance in the quality of an optical material used in hyperlensing, a method of creating lenses that can resolve objects much smaller than the wavelength of light. The work opens...
View ArticleHow to turn sulfur waste into night-vision goggles
Sulfur left over from refining fossil fuels can be transformed into cheap, lightweight, plastic lenses for infrared devices, including night-vision goggles, new research shows. Scientists successfully...
View ArticleGalaxy bends light to create 4 views of supernova
The sky is filled with “magnifying glasses” that allow astronomers to study very distant objects barely visible with even the largest existing telescopes. Using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope,...
View ArticleTiny flat lens is less bulky than curvy one
Most lenses rely on a curved shape to bend and focus light. But these lenses take up too much space in consumer electronics and fiber-optic systems. In recent years scientists have started crafting...
View ArticleThese compound lenses work like insect eyes
The compound eyes found in insects and some sea creatures are marvels of evolution. There, thousands of lenses work together to provide sophisticated information without the need for a sophisticated...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Slinky ‘hyperlens’ lets us see super tiny things
It looks like a Slinky suspended in motion, but this metamaterial hyperlens doesn’t climb down stairs. Instead, it improves our ability to see tiny objects and could one day help detect lethal forms of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Camera prototype is thinner than a dime
A patented prototype called FlatCam is little more than a thin sensor chip with a mask that replaces lenses in a traditional camera. Sophisticated computer algorithms are what make it practical—they...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Metal lens focuses beam of terahertz radiation
Tests of a new lens made of 32 metal plates show it outperforms similar silicon and Teflon lenses to focus terahertz radiation. The journal Nature Scientific Reports published the results. “Now we can...
View Article‘Tear machine’ might make contact lenses less painful
Engineers have built a device that mimics the surface of the eye in an attempt to make wearing contact lenses all day less irritating. The work was inspired in part by a graduate student’s dry eyes....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ultra-thin camera design doesn’t need a lens
Traditional cameras—even those on the thinnest of cell phones—cannot be truly flat due to their optics: lenses that require a certain shape and size in order to function. A new camera design replaces...
View ArticleHyperlens crystal could show us living cells in new detail
Researchers report an advance in the quality of an optical material used in hyperlensing, a method of creating lenses that can resolve objects much smaller than the wavelength of light. The work opens...
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