RSS Feeds

Earth Science

Space Science

Life Science

Fields of Scientific Study

Nanotechnology

Cancer

Definitions of The Fields of Scientific Study

Through a light, darkly

October 18, 2002

A British physicist has come up with a way to reveal the shifting and shining colours that form in the dark spots where light waves interfere with each other. The patterns await experimental demonstration but computer-generated images are already illuminating new aspects of light that had until now remained in the shadows.

When two waves meet their peaks and troughs interfere. If the peaks are in phase you get a higher peak as the energies of each wave add together, two troughs take away from each other to make a deeper trough. On the other hand, when a peak and a trough
meet they apparently cancel out. For waves on the sea, the effect is a patch of dead water. For light, the picture is altogether more complicated and beautiful as Professor Sir Michael Berry, of the H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory at Bristol University, has found out.

"Interference of white light produces coloured patterns," explains Berry, "because the different wavelengths in the light add and subtract differently at different places." He has combined colour theory and wave physics to look more closely than ever before at the calm water - the dark light. They have used a computer model to simulate the interference patterns produced by two light waves. Where peak and trough meet to cancel each other out they see a region of dark light called a phase singularity. "In these special places the phase of the wave is undefined, just as time is undefined at the North Pole," says Berry. "However, the colours hidden in the darkness can be predicted," he adds, "by magnifying the intensity there, the colours form characteristic and striking patterns. These theoretically predicted colours of dark light have yet to be investigated experimentally but Berry`s work predicts many different colour patterns in the dark light.

For instance, random light waves interfere to make delicate features, like the shimmering light at the bottom of a swimming pool, where the waves appear to move faster than light. Berry has even unwoven the rainbow a little more than Newton to show that phase singularities lie at the heart of this most beautiful but transient natural phenomenon.

Institute of Physics

Science Research Departments

	Scientific Explorer's Mind Blowing Science Kit for Young Scientists by Scientific Explorer Mind blowing experiments to delight and educate young scientists! Erupt a color changing volcano. Mix up magic ooze with a mind of its own. Play with sand that never gets wet. Mix safe chemicals and watch colors change before your eyes. You'll amaze yourself and your friends as you explore the science behind these truly remarkable reactions.
	The Everything Kids' Science Experiments Book: Boil Ice, Float Water, Measure Gravity-Challenge the World Around You! (Everything Kids Series) by Tom Robinson (Author) Science has never been so easy - or so much fun! With The Everything Kids' Science Experiments Book, all you need to do is gather a few household items and you can recreate dozens of mind-blowing, kid-tested science experiments. High school science teach Tom Robinson shows you how to expand your scientific horizons - from biology to chemistry to physics to outer space. You'll discover answers to questions like: Is it possible to blow up a balloon without actually blowing into it? What is inside coins? Can a magnet ever be "turned off"? Do toilets always flush in the same direction? Can a swimming pool be cleaned with just the breath of one person? Get ready to enter the laboratory and learn how to conduct cool experiments, understand scientific terms...
	Scientific Explorer's Disgusting Science - A Kit for Studying the Science of Revolting Things by Scientific Explorer Grow your own friendly germs and fuzzy molds. Mix up a batch of coagulating fake blood. Even make a stinky intestine. learn the science behind unmentionable bodily functions while doing some truly NASTY Experiments. Ages 8+
	The Science Book: Everything You Need to Know About the World and How It Works (National Geographic) by National Geographic (Author), Marshall Brain (Foreword) A delight for the casual reader, yet so complete and wide-ranging that science buffs and students will welcome it, The Science Book encapsulates centuries of scientific thought in one richly illustrated volume. Natural phenomena, revolutionary inventions, and the most up-to-date investigations are explained in detailed text, and 2,000 vivid illustrationsincluding 3-D graphics and pictogramsmake the information even more accessible and amazing to discover. The Science Book offers both a general overview of topics for the browsing reader and more specific information for those seeking deeper insight into a particular subject. Six major sections, ranging from the universe and planet Earth to biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics, encompass everything from microscopic life...
	Magic School Bus Journey into the Human Body Science Kit by Young Scientist Club The Magic School Bus and Ms. Frizzle take Young Scientists on a wild ride into the human body with these breathtaking experiments. Young Scientists bend bones, make joints, map taste buds, expand lungs, build a stethoscope, measure lung capacities and heart rates, perform the iodine starch test, spin glitter, simulate synovial fluid, create a human body poster, and much, much more! This exciting kit includes a life-size poster with eight sheets of body part stickers. So put on your seat belts, students, and get ready to discover The Human Body!
	The Complete Book of Science, Grades 5-6 by School Specialty Publishing (Author) The Complete Book of Science for grades 5 to 6 teaches children important science skills! Children complete a variety of exercises that help them develop a number of skills in this 352 page workbook. Including a complete answer key this workbook features a user-friendly format perfect for browsing, research, and review. Over 4 million in print! The best-selling Complete Book series offers a full complement of instruction, activities, and information about a single topic or subject area. Containing over 30 titles and encompassing preschool to grade 8 this series helps children succeed in every subject area! ...
	Scientific Explorer's Tasty Science Chemistry in the Kitchen Kit by Scientific Explorer Who knew science could taste so good? With this kit, you’ll whip up cupcakes, cookies, candy, and more—all in the name of science! Learn what makes cakes rise, candy crystallize, and more real chemistry happen in the kitchen. Tasty Science is packed with ingredients, recipes, activity cards, a test tube laboratory, and lots more to explore the science of taste.
	ScienceWiz Inventions Experiment Kit and Book 13 Experiments, Inventions by Sciencewiz This kit includes a 40 page full-color book and materials. Years of testing with children has produced this carefully crafted set of doable projects. Build, Build, Build! a spinning motor a clicking telegraph a light flashing generator a real radio Step-by-step, highly visual instructions lead a child successfully through each invention. Incredible illustrations present central scientific concepts, allowing children to discover the "why" as well as the "how". The use of everyday materials demystifies the way common electronic components work. Although Inventions is designed for 8 year olds and up, this title has had an extraordinary history and following. It has been used at MIT to mentor high school students in physics. It has been used at U.C. Berkeley to mentor women...
	What Is the World Made Of? All About Solids, Liquids, and Gases (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 2) by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld (Author), Paul Meisel (Author) Did you ever walk through a wall? Drink a glass of blocks? Have you ever played with a lemonade doll, or put on milk for socks? This latest addition to the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series introduces the youngest readers to an important science concept: the differences between solids, liquids, and gases. Any child who wants to know why he can't walk through a wall will enjoy Kathleen Zoehfeld's simple text and Paul Meisel's playful illustrations.
	Scientific Explorer's Spa Science Chemistry Kit by Scientific Explorer Whip your bath into a frothy fizzing sea of color and fragrance. Make colorful, fragrant bath gels, bath fizzers, spa lotion, bath balm, a face mask, and shampoo. Mix colors and fragrances to creat your own product line with secret and exclusive mixtures. Explore the science of gels, fragrance and fizzers. Mixing fragrances in the bathtub is a delight for both girls and boys. It’s one of the best ways to introduce them to the fun of science. Kids will spend hours in the tub with this kit mixing ingredients to make foaming frothing baths and smelling potions and conducting science experiments to see how scents affect our alertness, moods and memories. Comparing the responses of siblings, parents and friends makes this a shared adventure the entire family will enjoy