Optical Futures

[Video] Invisibility cloak is a mirage

Stuart Watson — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:42:10 +0000

This is a beautiful demonstration of a trick of the light that we are all quite familiar with, and it even has an on/off switch. An aerogel sheet of carbon nanotubes is rapidly heated by electrical stimulation. The heat is conducted away and into the surrounding water, where a mirage effect is created. Light is then deflected away from the layer of heated water, rendering anything placed behind it invisible.

Making medical instruments out of iPhones

Stuart Watson — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 21:22:43 +0000

Consumer electronics drive so much more than the economy, they also push forward on the frontiers of science and technology in remarkable ways. Powerful mobile computers with a variety of sophisticated sensors built in, are rapidly becoming common in the pockets and purses of everyday people. But they can do more than just play your favourite music and videos, surf the internet or play games, they can function as important scientific tools as well.

These four glowing walls

Stuart Watson — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 23:34:55 +0000

"It is lighted neither by window nor by lamp, yet is filled with a soft radiance." This is part of the opening paragraph to E. M. Forster's short story The Machine Stops, in which he describes a small room where the walls themselves glow and light the room. Now, 100 years after its publication, this concept is becoming a reality.

Light improves wind turbine power generation

Stuart Watson — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:53:11 +0000

Researchers at the Risø National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy at the Technical University of Denmark, have demonstrated for the first time the use of a wind turbine equipped with a laser for improved performance^†.

Nobel prizes recognise importance of optics

Stuart Watson — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:58:59 +0000

The Nobel Prize committee, which each year awards prizes for achievements in the sciences and humanities, have this year given their recognition to the role of optics in transforming the world of information technology^†.

Vitamin D and sun bed UV

Stuart Watson — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 18:52:11 +0000

Light is good for your health. Most notably, there are significant health benefits from vitamin D, which is produced in our bodies by the absorption into the skin of ultraviolet (UV) radiation. There are also dietary sources of vitamin D, but one of the best and most enjoyable involves simply sitting back and soaking up the sun's rays.

Micro-manipulation in action

Stuart Watson — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:22:07 +0000

We've previously reported on the use of light patterning techniques to manipulate the movement of particles in solution (Microscopic particle manipulation for screening operations), but now the method has been improved upon and we can see it in action.

Improved image quality from your camera phone

Stuart Watson — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 06:50:45 +0000

The demand for consumer electronics to get smaller, lighter and cheaper, is a stimulus for great ingenuity. Cell phones are a classic example where electrical engineers and designers are constantly working to put a whole lot more into ever smaller spaces. And now that cameras are almost as standard a feature in these devices as the ring tone, optical engineers must also devise increasingly clever ways to shrink the optics while improving their performance.

Particle sorting with a miniature light railway

Stuart Watson — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 15:53:28 +0000

Lasers which can control the movement of particles are still confined to the microscopic world, but if you have an over-reactive imagination, you might wonder just what the limits are on the size of bodies which these devices can control and whether science fiction's tractor beams are becoming a reality. Today's technology may not be capable of producing force fields that lock on to starships and guide them in to land, but the size of particles which can be manipulated by light are getting larger.

Science hits back at the moon

Stuart Watson — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:26:55 +0000

Last week NASA launched the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS). The LRO mission will map the lunar surface in greater detail than ever before, while LCROSS hurtles toward our nearest neighbour on a collision course, to deliver the scientific version of a double jab, two rapid blows that may uncover the existence of water on our otherwise rocky neighbour.