A team of PSI scientists has developed an achromatic X-ray lens for the first time, allowing researchers to study nanostructures with high resolution. The innovative lens, which combines two optical principles, enables compact X-ray microscopes that can be operated on industry premises.
Researchers developed smart contact lenses that emit far-red light to treat diabetic retinopathy. The study showed the lenses prevented retinopathy in diabetic animal models, demonstrating their safety and effectiveness.
Scientists have developed a metasurface lens with tunable focus using a piezoelectric thin film, enabling compact and lightweight optics. The new technology could be used in various applications such as portable medical diagnostic instruments, drone-based 3D mapping, and miniaturized cameras.
Researchers have designed a tiny and flat antenna for receiving and transmitting terahertz signals, enabling the miniaturization of THz devices. The new design integrates the antenna with the system, eliminating the need for bulky silicon lenses and reducing optical power required.
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SAMSUNG T9 Portable SSD 2TB transfers large imagery and model outputs quickly between field laptops, lab workstations, and secure archives.
The researchers developed an eye-like adaptive liquid lens that can be used to diverge or converge light by changing the shape of the DBA liquid. The lens exhibits high optical performance with good stability and can be used in various applications such as mobile phone cameras, endoscopes, and machine vision.
Researchers analyzed the impact of COVID-19-related lockdowns on nearsightedness progression in schoolchildren in Hong Kong. The study found that these measures can contribute to the worsening of myopia among children.
A new confocal platform using artificial intelligence and multiple lenses improves volumetric resolution by over 10-fold while reducing phototoxicity. The platform uses Deep Learning algorithms to distinguish between high-quality images with low signal-to-noise ratio and better images.
Researchers developed a holographic lens that can focus light onto a single point or disperse it into its constituent colors, producing a spectrum of pure colors. The new method uses two sources of light to create a super spectral resolution optical element for detecting exoplanets with high resolution.
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.
Researchers at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have developed a simple spatial light modulator made from gold electrodes covered by a thin film of electro-optical material. This device can control light intensity and pixel by pixel, enabling compact, high-speed, and precise optical devices.
A team of researchers has found a 390-million-year-old hyper-facet eye system in trilobites that is unique to the animal kingdom. The discovery suggests that this ancient eye may have been an adaptation for life in low light conditions, and could provide insights into the evolution of visual systems.
A team of researchers built a high-resolution microscope using LEGO bricks and mobile phone parts, showing significant improvement in children's knowledge of microscopy. The study demonstrated that constructing the microscope themselves increased children's understanding of optical characteristics.
Researchers from Cornell University and Samsung create a first-of-its-kind metalens that can focus light using voltage instead of mechanically moving its components. The innovation allows for an ultrathin, electrically tunable lens with continuous zoom capabilities.
Rigol DP832 Triple-Output Bench Power Supply
Rigol DP832 Triple-Output Bench Power Supply powers sensors, microcontrollers, and test circuits with programmable rails and stable outputs.
CooperVision presented over 20 papers and posters on presbyopia, soft toric lens fitting, and myopia control. The research highlights the importance of patient input, toric lens performance attributes, and children's acceptance of myopia control interventions.
Researchers from Rijksmuseum Boerhaave Leiden and TU Delft used neutron tomography to examine a highly magnifying specimen without damaging it. The findings reveal that Van Leeuwenhoek's lenses were made using a common production method, contradicting long-held assumptions about his 'secret' technique.
Scientists have developed a method to create highly precise and complex miniature lenses using 3D printing, enabling small and lightweight cameras. The new apochromatic lens design reduces chromatic aberrations, improving imaging performance and quality in medical endoscopes.
Researchers developed infusing contact lenses with gold nanoparticles to create a safer way to see colors for people with color blindness. The gold nanocomposite lenses improved red-green color perception in clinical trials without leaching dye, offering a potential solution for those struggling with the condition.
A team of researchers found that protein imbalance leads to cataract formation by causing proteins to clump together and become cloudy. The study provides new insights into the causes of this common eye ailment, which may lead to the development of new treatment methods.
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Sky & Telescope Pocket Sky Atlas, 2nd Edition is a durable star atlas for planning sessions, identifying targets, and teaching celestial navigation.
A mouse study suggests that the genetic contribution to anxiety is partially mediated by the gut microbiome. Researchers used 3D X-ray imaging to gain new insights into the reproductive biology of tsetse flies, which carry a deadly parasite that causes African sleeping sickness.
Scientists have created a technique using stable isotopic analysis of eye lenses to reveal a fish's life history and diet. The study found that fish on floodplains grew faster and had different dietary signatures than those in rivers or hatcheries, providing valuable insights for managing habitats and conservation efforts.
Researchers developed a low-cost, portable microscopy system using transparent microspheres and affordable objective lenses to detect pathogens in water sources. The assembly can be customized for various applications, including on-site antibiotic testing.
A team of researchers at Harvard University has developed a two-millimeter achromatic metalens that can focus RGB colors without aberrations, opening a path to new virtual reality platforms. The lens uses nanostructures to focus light and is the largest RGB-achromatic metalens to date.
The discovery uses a deep residual neural net trained on real data to uncover warped and stretched images of distant galaxies. The new lenses provide astronomers with targets to measure fundamental properties of the Universe, including the Hubble constant.
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CalDigit TS4 Thunderbolt 4 Dock simplifies serious desks with 18 ports for high-speed storage, monitors, and instruments across Mac and PC setups.
Researchers from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology developed rotational varifocal moiré metalens that can tune focal length along a wider range than previously seen. This breakthrough could lead to ultra-compact imaging systems for future smartphones, virtual reality goggles, drones, or microbots.
Researchers from the University of Tsukuba developed an infrared-transmitting polymer that retains its shape after stretching and can be used to fabricate lenses with variable-focus properties. The polymer is based on low-cost, sustainable materials and was found to transmit 10% of incoming infrared light.
The researchers designed a single flat piece of glass with microscopic structures to manipulate light and produce crisp, 180-degree panoramic images. The new design enables ultra-wide-angle lenses to be integrated into smartphones, laptops, and medical imaging devices.
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have developed a new class of metalenses that can be reconfigured using liquid crystals, allowing for the creation of flexible and tunable lenses. This innovation holds promise for revolutionizing optics and enabling new scientific and technological endeavors.
Researchers develop innovative method to fabricate high performance lenses in monolayer two dimensional transitional metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) material using femtosecond laser. The lens provides subwavelength resolution and high efficiency, enabling diffraction-limited imaging.
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Apple iPhone 17 Pro delivers top performance and advanced cameras for field documentation, data collection, and secure research communications.
A clinical trial funded by the National Eye Institute found that multifocal contact lenses reduce worsening nearsightedness and slow eye growth in children. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, shows promising results for a new option in myopia control.
Research shows that multifocal contact lenses can slow nearsightedness progression in children as young as 7 years old. A three-year clinical trial found that kids wearing bifocal contact lenses with a high reading power had slower eye growth, but no vision problems.
Researchers have created biocompatible lenses using spider silk, enabling large-area imaging of biological areas with high resolution. The lenses use dragline silk's unique properties to generate a photonic nanojet, suitable for biomedical applications.
The new flat lens design allows for a depth of focus several orders of magnitude larger than that of an equivalent conventional lens, enabling simultaneous focus on objects at varying distances. This breakthrough has significant implications for camera applications, including smartphones, biomedical imaging, and automobile cameras.
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.
The IKBFU scientists have developed a new method for producing diamond x-ray micro lenses, which can withstand high temperatures and radiation loads. The lenses are made using an electron-ion microscope and have exceeded expectations, enabling the study of nanostructures and protein crystals with greater detail.
Researchers at the University of Tyumen developed biomimetic optics that mimic human eye functions, offering excellent adaptation to changing conditions and miniature sizes. The new optics has advantages over traditional technologies, enabling wider range of functional characteristics.
Scientists at Harvard University created an all-glass, centimeter-scale metalens with nanostructures that can focus light, revolutionizing applications like microscopy, cameras, and sensors. The breakthrough enables mass production of large metalenses using conventional chip fabrication methods.
Celestron NexStar 8SE Computerized Telescope
Celestron NexStar 8SE Computerized Telescope combines portable Schmidt-Cassegrain optics with GoTo pointing for outreach nights and field campaigns.
A team of scientists has proposed a new method for studying the structure of complexly organized materials, enabling the study of difficult-to-analyze self-organizing three-dimensional materials. This breakthrough could revolutionize industries such as electronics and biomedicine.
Researchers at the University of Arizona have developed a new material that can be used to produce cheaper infrared plastic lenses. The lenses, made from a sulfur-based polymer, are stronger and more temperature-resistant than previous versions and can be produced at lower temperatures, making them more affordable.
University of Utah engineers create a new type of optical lens that is thinner and lighter than conventional lenses, working with night imaging and enabling longer-flying drones and military applications. The lens is made of plastic instead of glass, reducing manufacturing costs.
AmScope B120C-5M Compound Microscope
AmScope B120C-5M Compound Microscope supports teaching labs and QA checks with LED illumination, mechanical stage, and included 5MP camera.
Compound lenses developed by researchers are inspired by mosquito eyes, providing a wide field of view with rapid imaging capabilities. The new design has antifogging properties, similar to those found in mosquito eyes, making it suitable for applications in drones, robots and medical devices.
Researchers have discovered eumelanin in fossilized crane-fly compound eyes, challenging previous hypotheses about arthropod vision. The study's findings suggest that trilobite lenses may be more similar to modern arthropod eyes than previously thought.
A University of Sussex research team has developed a personal sound projector that can track a moving individual and deliver an acoustic message in real-time. The system uses a low-cost camera to focus sound on a target, creating a sphere of sound around 6cm in diameter.
GQ GMC-500Plus Geiger Counter
GQ GMC-500Plus Geiger Counter logs beta, gamma, and X-ray levels for environmental monitoring, training labs, and safety demonstrations.
University of Arizona researchers have developed a new lens technology that can collect more light and search for signs of life on 1,000 exoplanets. The Nautilus telescope array will be powerful enough to characterize planets from 1,000 light years away, providing valuable insights into the complexity of exo-earths.
Researchers tested yellow-lens night-driving glasses using a driving simulator to assess their impact on detecting pedestrians and reducing headlight glare. The study found mixed results, with some glasses showing promise in reducing glare, but no significant improvement in visibility.
A new imaging system cancels chromatic optical aberrations in individual eyes, allowing for precise assessment of vision and eye health. The technology provides the first objective measurement of longitudinal chromatic aberrations (LCA), which could lead to insights into visual halos, glare, and color perception.
A team of researchers from ICFO demonstrates an adjustable technique to manipulate light without mechanical movement, enabling the creation of dynamically tuneable lenses with high control and low power consumption. The Smartlens technology has potential applications in high-end systems and simple end-user-oriented imaging devices.
A new prototype by Stanford University tackles presbyopia by using eye-tracking sensors and fluid-filled lenses that adapt to changing focus needs. The technology has shown promising results in tests with 56 people, outperforming traditional progressive lenses.
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Creality K1 Max 3D Printer rapidly prototypes brackets, adapters, and fixtures for instruments and classroom demonstrations at large build volume.
Focusing sunlight onto a photothermally active membrane using lenses increases distilled water flux through the membrane by more than 50%. This breakthrough demonstrates the utility of exploiting focused sunlight in thermally and optically driven processes.
The new system achieves direct, atom-resolved imaging with a residual magnetic field less than 0.2 mT, 10,000 times smaller than conventional lenses. Researchers have successfully observed the atomic structure of silicon steel sheets, enabling unprecedented characterization of magnetic materials.
A mathematical model of fresh water lenses was developed to understand the interaction between physical factors and water storage, circulation, and resilience. The research has practical applications in managing water resources around the world, particularly in arid deserts.
Scientists at Washington State University and Ohio State University have developed a novel method for creating custom lenses using magnetic liquid droplets. This breakthrough process eliminates the need for expensive metal molds, enabling mass production of high-quality lenses in various shapes and sizes.
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DJI Air 3 (RC-N2) captures 4K mapping passes and environmental surveys with dual cameras, long flight time, and omnidirectional obstacle sensing.
Researchers have created devices that manipulate sound in the same way as light, creating opportunities for entertainment and public communication. They've demonstrated a dynamic metamaterial device with a zoom objective and built a collimator to transmit sound as a directional beam.
A Northwestern University research team has developed tiny, fully reconfigurable metalenses made from silver nanoparticles that can adapt to different imaging applications. The new lenses have a thickness 100 times smaller than human hair and can form multiple images at various positions.
The new SimVis visual simulator, developed by CSIC researchers, enables patients to experiment how their vision will improve before surgery. The technology offers a realistic experience and can be wirelessly controlled via mobile application or tablet.
Researchers at PSI develop a new method that uses a small but efficient lens to create high-resolution images of X-ray microscopes, providing absorption and phase contrast information. This technique has the potential to reveal material properties and improve image quality for biological samples.
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.
Scientists from the Max Born Institute have created the first refractive lens that focuses extreme ultraviolet beams, utilizing a jet of atoms instead of traditional glass. This innovation enables novel approaches to image biological samples on extremely short timescales, with potential applications in microscopy and structural analysis.
A new meta-surface technology has been developed to correct for chromatic aberrations across all kinds of lenses, from simple to complex. This innovation uses a single-layer surface of nanostructures and can be incorporated into commercial optical systems, improving performance while reducing complexity.
Physicists at Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University developed a mini transfocator, a variable focus lens for compact and mobile optical systems. The new design offers submicron resolution and is ideal for studying biological samples under extreme conditions.
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.
Researchers at Columbia University have created the first flat lens capable of focusing a range of colors and polarizations to the same focal spot. The ultra-thin 'meta-lens' offers performance comparable to conventional lenses but with significantly reduced size and weight.
A new outbreak of Acanthamoeba keratitis has been identified in contact lens wearers, with a threefold increase in cases since 2011. Poor hygiene, contaminated water, and improper use of contact lenses are linked to the risk of developing the disease.
A study of 3,000 Medicare beneficiaries found that adults from minority racial/ethnic groups were less likely to use low-vision devices, despite evidence of their benefits. However, there was no difference in the use of vision rehabilitation services between racial/ethnic groups.
Scientists have found that contact lenses can break down into smaller plastic particles when exposed to wastewater treatment plants, which can harm aquatic organisms. The study's authors hope that industry will take note and provide proper disposal guidelines for contact lenses.