Collaborate Disseminate
Quantum computers have the potential to drastically outperform traditional computers, but for now they’re mostly limited to labs and big experimental setups. Japanese researchers have now made a step towards more accessible quantum computing devices, f… Continue reading Twisted light makes for breakthrough quantum computer chip
If you live in much of the world today, high-speed Internet is a solved problem. But there are still places where getting connected presents unique challenges. Alphabet, the company that …read more Continue reading Broadband Across the Congo
Alphabet’s floating internet venture Project Loon may have been deflated, but its legacy looks set to live on through a new effort called Project Taara. The team has salvaged the technology to deliver internet connectivity with lasers, demonstrating th… Continue reading Lasers beam high-speed internet between cities through open air
A monochromator is an optical instrument that permits only a narrow selection of wavelengths to be transmitted from a source, and the particular model [Doug] obtained renders visual light monochromatic …read more Continue reading Vintage Monochromator Makes Monochromatic Light, Mechanically
Engineers have found a way to make liquid metals switch between reflective surfaces or those that scatter light. The transition only requires a small zap of electricity and could be used to make mirrors that can be switched on or off.Continue ReadingCa… Continue reading Liquid metal mirrors switch reflectivity on and off with a zap
Engineers at Stanford have created a new optical device that can easily manipulate light into basically any color desired. The system uses a series of modulators to fine-tune the frequencies of individual photons to change their color.Continue ReadingC… Continue reading Photonic device makes light any color by manipulating individual photons
Materials get their optical properties based on how much they reflect, absorb or transmit different wavelengths (colors) of light. Usually optical coatings either reflect or transmit a given color of light, but now researchers at the University of Roch… Continue reading Optical coating reflects and transmits the same wavelength of light
Nokia and Vodafone have completed a trial of a new broadband technology that delivers a blistering 100 gigabits per second (Gbps) on a single wavelength. The trial was conducted using the kinds of network seen in the “last mile” between an ISP and a us… Continue reading Nokia and Vodafone demonstrate 100-Gbps fiber broadband in new trial
Japanese mathematician Kokichi Sugihara has won the annual Illusion of the Year Contest with a fascinating 3D model of an nearly 200-year old 2D illusion. The contest, run by the UK-based Neural Correlate Society has been bending brains for 16 years.Co… Continue reading Trip out with the best optical illusions of 2020
You have to be of a certain vintage to remember doing research on microfilm and microfiche. Before the age of mass digitization of public records, periodicals, and other obscure bits of history, dead-tree records were optically condensed onto fine-grain film, either in roll form or as flat sheets, which were …read more
Continue reading This Expedient Microfiche Reader Illuminates Retro Datasheets