Sculptured materials allow multiple channel plasmonic sensors
Sensors, communications devices and imaging equipment that use a prism and a special form of light -- a surface plasmon-polariton -- may incorporate multiple channels or redundant applications if manufacturers use sculptured thin films. view more (2009-11-11)
Perfect image without metamaterials ... and a reprieve for silicon chips
Since 2000, John Pendry's work on metamaterials has been at the van guard of efforts to create a perfect image - images with perfect resolution that can stem from light being moved in odd directions to create, among other tricks of the light, the illusion of invisibility. view more (2009-09-29)
Study shows how disruption of spectrin-actin network causes lens cells in the eye to lose shape
A network of proteins underlying the plasma membrane keeps epithelial cells in shape and maintains their orderly hexagonal packing in the mouse lens, say Nowak et al. view more (2009-09-14)
Open-source camera could revolutionize digital photography
Stanford photo scientists are out to reinvent digital photography with the introduction of an open-source digital camera, which will give programmers around the world the chance to create software that will teach cameras new tricks. view more (2009-09-04)
A drug-dispensing contact lens
Taking eye drops multiple times a day can be difficult for patients to do, and because of blinking and tearing, as little as 1 to 7 percent of the dose is actually absorbed by the eye. view more (2009-07-22)
New evidence that popular dietary supplement may help prevent, treat cataracts
Researchers are reporting evidence from tissue culture experiments that the popular dietary supplement carnosine may help to prevent and treat cataracts, a clouding of the lens of the eye that is a leading cause of vision loss worldwide. view more (2009-07-16)
Effective solar cells and sensitive bioanalysis
The efficiency factor of solar cells is crucial for the success of generating electricity from sunlight. Systems in which light is concentrated 400-fold through lenses onto solar cells are proving to be particularly advantageous. view more (2009-06-26)
Mini-beamer in a cell phone or PDA
A summer barbecue by the lake - as the sausages sizzle on the grill some of the party would like to watch the soccer on TV. Today, a choice has to be made whether to stay by the lake or watch the match on a big public screen or the TV set at home. view more (2009-06-25)
Sight for sore eyes
In a world-first breakthrough, University of New South Wales (UNSW) medical researchers have used stem cells cultured on a simple contact lens to restore sight to sufferers of blinding corneal disease. view more (2009-06-10)
'Gecko vision': Key to the multifocal contact lens of the future?
Nocturnal geckos are among the very few living creatures able to see colors at night, and scientists' discovery of series of distinct concentric zones may lead to insight into better cameras and contact lenses. view more (2009-05-08)
UAB Tear Research Focused on Contact Lens Risks, Benefit
Contact lenses are great for sight, but do they have an impact on general eye health? Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Optometry are working to answer that question by analyzing tears. view more (2009-05-07)
When every photon counts
The eyes of nocturnal mammals have very large numbers of highly-sensitive rod photoreceptors (the cell type responsible for night vision). They have to perceive light which is less than a millionth of the intensity of daylight. view more (2009-04-17)
Scientists demonstrate laser with controlled polarization
Applied scientists at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) in collaboration with researchers from Hamamatsu Photonics in Hamamatsu City, Japan, have demonstrated, for the first time, lasers in which the direction of oscillation of the emitted radiation, known as polarization, can be designed and controlled at will. view more (2009-04-13)
Knobbly kneed ID
Forget LED thumb-pad identification devices, complex retinal laser scanning, or even computerized iris recognition, the way forward for biometric validation is a quick X-ray snapshot of a person's knees, according to a report published in the International Journal of Biometrics. view more (2009-03-26)
Nanocups brim with potential
Researchers at Rice University have created a metamaterial that could light the way toward high-powered optics, ultra-efficient solar cells and even cloaking devices. view more (2009-03-16)
New light shed on marine luminescence
The phenomenon of light emission by living organisms, bioluminescence, is quite common, especially in marine species. view more (2009-02-23)
Molecular machines drive plasmonic nanoswitches
Plasmonics -- a possible replacement for current computing approaches -- may pave the way for the next generation of computers that operate faster and store more information than electronically-based systems and are smaller than optically-based systems, according to a Penn State engineer who has developed a plasmonic switch. view more (2009-02-12)
Plasmonic Whispering Gallery Microcavity Paves the Way to Future Nanolasers
The principle behind whispering galleries - where words spoken softly beneath a domed ceiling or in a vault can be clearly heard on the opposite side of the chamber - has been used to achieve what could prove to be a significant breakthrough in the miniaturization of lasers. Ultrasmall lasers, i.e., nanoscale, promise a wide variety of intriguing... view more... (2009-01-26)
Can you see me now? Flexible photodetectors could help sharpen photos
Distorted cell-phone photos and big, clunky telephoto lenses could be things of the past. University of Wisconsin-Madison Electrical and Computer Engineering Associate Professor Zhenqiang (Jack) Ma and colleagues have developed a flexible light-sensitive material that could revolutionize photography and other imaging technologies. view more (2009-01-14)
Spookfish uses mirrors for eyes
A remarkable new discovery shows the four-eyed spookfish to be the first vertebrate ever found to use mirrors, rather than lenses, to focus light in its eyes. view more (2009-01-08)
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