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Metamaterial uses light to control its motion

Scientists at the University of California - San Diego designed a device that harnesses light to manipulate its mechanical properties. The device oscillates indefinitely using energy absorbed from light, enabling new applications in GPS, computers, and other devices.

Noise-canceling optics

A team led by Caltech's Changhuei Yang and Edward Zhou developed a device that selectively cancels scattered light, revealing dimly reflective objects. The technology, termed 'coherence gated negation,' has potential applications in satellite exploration and biomedical imaging.

First quantum photonic circuit with an electrically driven light source

Researchers have successfully integrated a complete quantum optical structure on a chip using carbon nanotubes as single-photon sources. This achievement fulfills one condition for the use of photonic circuits in optical quantum computers and opens up new possibilities for ultrafast calculation and secure data encryption.

Motion-directed robots on a micro scale

Researchers created simple microswimmers with a phototaxis system, enabling them to move towards darker areas. By using a laser-generated light field with saw-tooth profiles, the microswimmers can be steered reliably over long distances.

SAMSUNG T9 Portable SSD 2TB

SAMSUNG T9 Portable SSD 2TB transfers large imagery and model outputs quickly between field laptops, lab workstations, and secure archives.

How to control polarization of light

Physicists at Lomonosov Moscow State University have successfully controlled the polarization of light, reducing its speed by up to 10 times. This breakthrough has significant implications for the development of spatial light modulators, which could enable faster and more efficient data processing in photonic computers.

UMD physicists discover 'smoke rings' made of laser light

Researchers have discovered 'spatiotemporal optical vortices,' or STOVs, which are 3-D ring structures generated by high-intensity lasers. These structures have the potential to manipulate particles moving at the speed of light and may be useful for designing powerful microscopes and more efficient telecommunication lines.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro

Apple iPhone 17 Pro delivers top performance and advanced cameras for field documentation, data collection, and secure research communications.

Electrons at the speed limit

Researchers at ETH Zurich have investigated how electrons respond to extremely fast electric fields, reaching speeds of up to petahertz. They observed that the absorption of diamond varied characteristically following the rhythm of the oscillating electric field, confirming the dynamical Franz-Keldysh effect.

NIST's compact gyroscope may turn heads

The NIST team has demonstrated a compact atomic gyroscope design that can measure rotation and acceleration with high accuracy. The device uses a cloud of laser-cooled atoms to simulate rotations, generating interference bands to detect the rotation rate and axis.

Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 46mm)

Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 46mm) tracks health metrics and safety alerts during long observing sessions, fieldwork, and remote expeditions.

Wi-fi from lasers

KAUST researchers develop a nanocrystalline material that rapidly converts blue light into white light, enabling data speeds of up to 2 GB/s. This innovation has the potential to replace traditional LEDs for energy-efficient lighting and enable new applications like VLC.

Scientists count microscopic particles without microscope

Scientists from Russia and Australia have developed a simple new way to count microscopic particles in optical materials using laser diffraction. This method allows for the structure and shape of any optical material to be determined without expensive electron or atomic-force microscopy.

Anker Laptop Power Bank 25,000mAh (Triple 100W USB-C)

Anker Laptop Power Bank 25,000mAh (Triple 100W USB-C) keeps Macs, tablets, and meters powered during extended observing runs and remote surveys.

Prototype chip could help make quantum computing practical

Researchers from MIT and Lincoln Laboratory have developed a prototype chip that can trap ions in an electric field with built-in optics, enabling the miniaturization of qubit technology. This breakthrough could lead to practical quantum computers by scaling up trapped-ion quantum information processing.

From unconventional laser beams to a more robust imaging wave

Researchers have developed a more robust imaging wave using unconventional laser beams, allowing for the detection of objects at greater distances. The technology has the potential to be used for Homeland Security and law enforcement agencies to detect chemical, biological, and explosive materials without damaging human tissue.

Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Generation, USB-C)

Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Generation, USB-C) provide clear calls and strong noise reduction for interviews, conferences, and noisy field environments.

NASA's new CO2 sounder nearly ready for prime time

The CO2 Sounder Lidar is a strong contender for the ASCENDS mission, which aims to measure global atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. The instrument uses advanced technologies, including a highly sensitive solid-state detector and a rapidly tuning laser system, to achieve unprecedented precision and resolution.

New noninvasive imaging method for showing oxygen in tissue

A team of scientists developed a new approach to visualize oxygen in tissue, using optoacoustic methods and a novel algorithm that corrects for light propagation effects. This non-invasive imaging method achieves high accuracy and resolution, enabling the study of various medical conditions such as tumor growth and metabolism.

Vortex laser offers hope for Moore's Law

A new light-based communication tool can carry data in a swift, circular motion, potentially solving an approaching data bottleneck. The optics advancement could become a central component of next generation computers designed to handle society's growing demand for information sharing.

Beating the heat a challenge at the nanoscale

Rice University scientists detect thermal boundary that hinders ultracold experiments, requiring clever measurement techniques to overcome. The researchers found that cooling substrates reduced temperature increases, but thermal boundary resistance remained a major issue.

Garmin GPSMAP 67i with inReach

Garmin GPSMAP 67i with inReach provides rugged GNSS navigation, satellite messaging, and SOS for backcountry geology and climate field teams.

Making terahertz lasers more powerful

Researchers have developed a new type of terahertz quantum cascade laser that can produce a record output power of up to 230 milliwatts in continuous wave mode. This breakthrough has significant implications for various applications, including spectroscopy, medical imaging, and remote sensing.

New detector overcomes key challenge in using light for wireless communications

Researchers from Facebook's Connectivity Lab have demonstrated a new approach for detecting optical communication signals, overcoming the primary challenge of precisely pointing a small laser beam at a tiny light detector. The new technology uses fluorescent materials to collect and concentrate light onto a photodetector, achieving dat...

Davis Instruments Vantage Pro2 Weather Station

Davis Instruments Vantage Pro2 Weather Station offers research-grade local weather data for networked stations, campuses, and community observatories.

Supercomputers fire lasers to shoot gamma ray beam

Researchers have successfully created a controlled beam of ultra-energized photons, or gamma rays, from a laser using simulations on the Lonestar and Stampede supercomputers. The breakthrough has potential applications in fields such as cancer treatment, cargo screening, and fundamental science studies.

A sharper focus for plasmonic lasers

Plasmonic lasers use metal films to confine light energy and have potential applications in integrated optics and ultrafast digital processing. The researchers developed a scheme that emits radiation at extremely long wavelengths with a narrow beam divergence angle of just 4 degrees, the narrowest achieved for such terahertz lasers.

A little impurity makes nanolasers shine: ANU media release

Researchers at The Australian National University have improved the performance of tiny lasers by adding impurities, increasing light emission efficiency. The discovery could lead to development of low-cost biomedical sensors, quantum computing, and a faster internet.

Meta Quest 3 512GB

Meta Quest 3 512GB enables immersive mission planning, terrain rehearsal, and interactive STEM demos with high-resolution mixed-reality experiences.

Russian physicists create a high-precision 'quantum ruler'

Physicists from Russia and France have devised a method to create a quantum entangled state, enabling precise measurement of large distances. This technique could improve the accuracy of optical interferometers used in gravitational wave detection.

Sony Alpha a7 IV (Body Only)

Sony Alpha a7 IV (Body Only) delivers reliable low-light performance and rugged build for astrophotography, lab documentation, and field expeditions.

Superheroes are real

Researchers from Lomonosov Moscow State University demonstrated the effect of all-optical switching between streams of photons using non-linear metamaterials, which can manipulate photons in a new way. This breakthrough could lead to faster data transfer and high-speed communication technologies.

Airplanes make clouds brighter

Scientists found that contrails formed within existing high clouds increase cloud reflectivity, a key factor in climate regulation. This discovery offers insights into aviation's influence on climate, particularly in mid-latitude regions.

A new trick for controlling emission direction in microlasers

Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis have developed a method to control the direction of light emission in microlasers using an exceptional point. By exploiting this physical phenomenon, they can create consistently directed photons, which is crucial for reliable photonic signals and applications.

Aranet4 Home CO2 Monitor

Aranet4 Home CO2 Monitor tracks ventilation quality in labs, classrooms, and conference rooms with long battery life and clear e-ink readouts.

Yale scientists amplify light using sound on a silicon chip

A Yale team has developed a new waveguide system that harnesses the interaction of light and sound waves to boost light intensity on a silicon microchip, solving a long-standing problem in hybrid technologies. The breakthrough enables precise control over the interaction, leading to potential commercial applications in fiber-optic comm...

Light: Information's new friend

African researchers have made a breakthrough in optical communication by demonstrating a significant increase in the amount of information that can be packed into light. The team used over 100 patterns of light, exploiting three degrees of freedom to achieve this result, which could potentially increase bandwidth by 100 times.

It's not an illusion: Transforming infrared into visible light

Researchers developed a compound that transforms near-infrared light into broadband white-light, emitting directional and high-quality light suitable for microscopes and projection systems. The material is cheap, readily available, and easily scalable, opening up new routes for advanced directed illumination technologies.

GoPro HERO13 Black

GoPro HERO13 Black records stabilized 5.3K video for instrument deployments, field notes, and outreach, even in harsh weather and underwater conditions.

Kansas State University researchers invent, patent new class of lasers

Researchers at Kansas State University have developed a new class of fiber-based lasers that can produce high-intensity light without requiring large amounts of power. The lasers use gas molecules to emit light and are portable, making them suitable for applications such as measuring distances and detecting gases in the atmosphere.

Attosecond physics: Attosecond camera for nanostructures

Physicists observe nanoscale light-matter phenomenon lasting only attoseconds, studying collective electron motions and near fields in gold nanoneedles. The development enables precise characterization of near-field vibrations, paving the way for complex studies of light-matter interactions in metals.

Nikon Monarch 5 8x42 Binoculars

Nikon Monarch 5 8x42 Binoculars deliver bright, sharp views for wildlife surveys, eclipse chases, and quick star-field scans at dark sites.

Engineers discover a new gatekeeper for light

Engineers have found a way to control light waves using a non-periodic material structure. This breakthrough opens up opportunities for faster-switching transistors and white light lasers, enabling devices to selectively block or allow specific wavelengths of light

Light can 'heal' defects in new solar cell materials

Researchers at MIT have discovered a process to remove defects in new solar cell materials using intense light, improving their efficiency and consistency. The technique, called photo-induced cleaning, uses illumination to migrate ions that sweep away most of the defects in the material.

Attosecond physics: A switch for light-wave electronics

Scientists have developed a novel method to study the dynamics of electrons in solids when exposed to ultrafast light pulses. This breakthrough enables the precise optimization of energy transfer between light and matter, paving the way for faster electronic signal processing and potentially accelerating data processing to its limits.

Celestron NexStar 8SE Computerized Telescope

Celestron NexStar 8SE Computerized Telescope combines portable Schmidt-Cassegrain optics with GoTo pointing for outreach nights and field campaigns.

Two types of RGB laser light sources successfully demonstrated

Two new RGB laser light source modules developed by Osaka University and Shimadzu Corporation show superior performance in miniaturization, energy-saving, and color gamut compared to LEDs. The modules have potential applications in small electronic devices, large video systems, and projection mapping.

A quasiparticle collider

Researchers create quasiparticles, directly observe collision events using laser pulses, and shed light on quasiparticles and many-body excitations in condensed matter systems. The findings demonstrate that basic collider concepts from particle physics can be transferred to solid-state research.

Rice experts unveil submicroscopic tunable, optical amplifier

Rice experts unveil a submicroscopic tunable, optical amplifier that generates infrared light and boosts the output of one light by capturing energy from a second light. The innovation is a single nanoparticle serving as an optical parametric amplifier, with potential applications in chemical sensing and molecular imaging.

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4 Pro)

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4 Pro) powers local ML workloads, large datasets, and multi-display analysis for field and lab teams.

Fastest-ever molecular imaging reveals reaction crucial for vision

A team of researchers has developed a method to image molecular movement in real-time, revealing the fundamental processes of a chemical reaction. This breakthrough allows scientists to study the structure and behavior of proteins at the atomic level, shedding light on the chemistry necessary for life.

Scientists watch bacterial sensor respond to light in real time

Researchers used the world's most powerful X-ray laser to take snapshots of an ultrafast structural transition in a protein, capturing atomic motions as fast as 100 quadrillionths of a second. The technique could benefit studies of light-driven atomic motions and reveal how visual pigments respond to light.

Apple iPad Pro 11-inch (M4)

Apple iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) runs demanding GIS, imaging, and annotation workflows on the go for surveys, briefings, and lab notebooks.

Getting a better measure of spin with diamond

A novel system uses thin slivers of diamond to measure electron beam polarization with unprecedented accuracy. The diamond-based detector provides direct and accurate measurements, overcoming previous uncertainties caused by laser beam distortions.

JILA extends laser 'combing' method to identify large, complex molecules

Researchers at JILA have developed a new technique using laser frequency comb spectroscopy to detect and identify large, complex molecules. The upgraded system cools molecules to near absolute zero, simplifying and strengthening absorption signals and greatly boosting the ability to identify the molecules.