Optics

A Quantum Kiss Between Nanoparticles That Changes The Color Of Space

Researchers have observed the quantum regime in the interaction between nano-sized spheres of gold, thanks to the change of color of the gap between these particles when they are at distances of less than one nanometer. They have literally 'seen' ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 7 2012 - 6:41pm

Single Photon's Noisy Quantum State Amplified, With No Noise

A device capable of amplifying the information in a single particle of light without adding noise has been created.  The researchers were able to amplify the noisy quantum state of a single photon subjected to loss, without adding noise in the process- th ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 12 2012 - 12:10pm

Undisturbed Excitation With Pulsed Light

The best way to get precise information regarding the inner structure of atoms and molecules is to excite them by means of resonant laser light but this laser light can lead to measurable modifications within the atom's electron shell, above a certai ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 26 2012 - 12:00pm

End-Run Around The Diffraction Limit: Shrinking Light To Billionths Of A Meter

In modern times, we have been spoiled by the ability of the private sector to make technology shrink in both cost and size- but Moore's Law can't do that forever using regular electrical signals. Maybe it is time for Moore's Light to take o ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 8 2012 - 7:00am

Synchrotron X-Rays Bring New Light To Old Fossils

Synchrotron-based imaging techniques of a 50 million-year-old lizard skin have identified the presence of teeth which are invisible to visible light, demonstrating for the first time that this fossil animal was more than just a skin moult.  Researchers us ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 18 2012 - 11:49am

Tetrapods: High Resolution X-rays Allow Early Backbone Reconstruction

What was the backbone of early tetrapods, the earliest four-legged animals, like? High-energy X-rays and a new data extraction protocol have allowed researchers to reconstruct the backbones of the 360 million year old fossils in exceptional detail. The re ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 13 2013 - 10:45pm

Why Does It Get Dark?

In a comment on You, Andromeda, And The Largest Structure In The Universe, Mike Crow posted a picture of Andromeda, made from 40 hours of his exposure, 5 minutes at time, in his driveway. ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Jan 23 2013 - 5:10pm

Light-Emitting Triangles Make Triangles Even Cooler

Scientists have created single layers of a naturally occurring rare mineral called tungstenite, or WS2, and the resulting sheet of stacked sulfur and tungsten atoms forms a honeycomb pattern of triangles that have been shown to have unusual light-emitting ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 5 2013 - 1:00pm

Unromantic Engineers Figure Out How To Catch Rainbows

Engineers from the University at Buffalo engineers have created technology that could lead to breakthroughs in solar energy, stealth technology and other areas- but they had to catch some rainbows first.  Qiaoqiang Gan, PhD, an assistant professor of elec ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 17 2013 - 2:01pm

Mic Stand Telescope Mount (or Camera Mount)

My wife’s cousin, the break-dancing radiologist, broke the microphone clip off my mic stand while singing karaoke on Thanksgiving (my wife and I host Thanksgiving at our house for the family every year). I had another microphone clip and replaced it so we ...

Article - Steve Schuler - May 19 2013 - 12:40pm