Nanodevices Bend under the Force of Light Nov 16, 2009
The devices harness , by which a light beam can exert a push or pull in the direction transverse, or perpendicular, to the direction of the light's propagation. In a recent example, by a team from Yale University and the University of Washington in Seattle, laser light routed through a tiny bridge-shaped resonator induced the bridge to vibrate up and down within a range of a few nanometers. (Scientific American)
First 'One-way Roads' For Light Could Lead To Simpler Lightwave Technology Oct 10, 2009
If a light beam is observed propagating in a particular direction, one can also shine a light beam to propagate in the opposite (backward) direction. "The very fact that reflected beams are allowed to exist, combined with the fact that light at least partially reflects from most objects it encounters, makes optical reflections ubiquitous in nature," said MIT physics Professor Marin Solja i , the senior author of the study. (Science Daily)
Light-Wave Communications [Reprint] Oct 7, 2009
What is new today are the techniques available for generating a light beam that can be modulated at extremely high rates and, equally important, for transmitting the resulting signals through a glass fiber several miles long with an acceptably low loss of energy. The modern interest in light-wave communications dates from the first demonstration of the laser in 1960. (Scientific American)
'Laser vision' offers new insights Sep 25, 2009
A system that projects light beams directly into the eye could change the way we see the world ... It is made up of a tiny mirror that sweeps the light beam until a full image appears to the user. (BBC News -- Technology)
Light Controls Genetically Encoded Mouse Cells Sep 19, 2009
19, 2009) UCSF researchers have genetically encoded mouse cells to respond to light, creating cells that can be trained to follow a light beam or stop on command like microscopic robots. See also. (Science Daily)
A State of the Art, and State of the Arts, School Sep 9, 2009
The library is in a structure that resembles a slightly slanted cone, with its pointed top sliced off and a skylight that lets natural light beam down on readers. There are more than 60 loft-like classrooms with 14-foot ceilings and circular windows meant to mimic constellations. (Los Angeles Downtown News, CA)
Juno Beach counts the money as unmanned van boosts speeding tickets Aug 11, 2009
The cameras use an infrared light beam invisible to the human eye to record a passing vehicle's speed. Town officials almost yanked the van in June. (The Palm Beach Post)
Smith trial update: How Tonyeah Jackson died Jul 26, 2009
kquintel2113 wrote on Jul 25, 2009 6:59 AM:" caramel d: Where did u learn the law? U must be a friend of J-Rich. U dont need a murder weapon when 100 eyes saw who had the gun with the red light beam on it. He is going to be found guilty. I can feel it. Tonyeah has been deceased now for three years. Justice for Tonyeah. ". takeastand wrote on Jul 25, 2009 8:13 AM:" I agree kquintel everyone knows that jrich shot tonyeah. so for all you people that have doubt. keep doubting cause he is guilty. i... (Waterloo Courier, IO)
SLAC vandalism triggers FBI investigation Jul 25, 2009
The robot picks up each sample by the long end and transfers it to the light beam for examination, Brown said. These containers are stored in cassettes, with each cassette including about 100 samples. (Palo Alto Online, CA)
Quantum memory and turbulence in ultra-cold atoms Jul 20, 2009
Now, Haruka Tanji, Saikat Ghosh, Jonathan Simon, Benjamin Bloom, and Vladan Vuletic from MIT have demonstrated an atomic quantum memory that heralds the successful storage of a light beam in a cold atom gas. The atomic-ensemble memory can receive an arbitrary polarization state of an incoming photon, called a polarization qubit, announce successful storage of the qubit, and later regenerate another photon with the same polarization state. (EurekAlert!)
Join Nancy Drew in the Bahamas Jul 17, 2009
Some of the puzzles are about decoding secret writings, while others are about lining up mirrors so that a light beam can navigate a dark space. The island used to be home to a monkey research facility that taught the island's monkeys rudimentary communication and how to play three minigames. (USA Today -- Tech)
Beautiful skin in your 40s and beyond Jul 13, 2009
They split each light beam into thousands of microscopic zones, so only 20 percent of your face is targeted in a session. The skin cells around these dots are spared and help the treated areas heal more quickly. (MSNBC -- Health)
Goodell makes it to the top Jul 10, 2009
The light beam of Goodell's headlamp was shining into a scary abyss just before Disappointment Cleaver, the point at which the climb becomes a trickier push for the peak. A crevasse at least 150 feet deep was separating him from his rope leader, climbing expert Peter Whittaker. (News & Observer -- Sports)
Optical Computer Closer: Optical Transistor Made From Single Molecule Jul 4, 2009
Conversely, it is possible to release the absorbed energy again in a targeted way with a second light beam. This occurs because the beam changes the molecule s quantum state, with the result that the light beam is amplified. (Science Daily)
A Sonic Boom In The World Of Lasers Jun 19, 2009
When stimulated by a power source (a light beam), the phonons multiply, bouncing back and forth between the layers of the lattice, until they escape out of the structure in the form of an ultra-high frequency phonon beam. A key factor in this new science is that the Saser is the first device to emit sound waves in the terahertz frequency range; the beam of coherent acoustic waves it produces has nanometre wavelengths (billionths of a metre). (Science Daily)
Lasers Are Making Solar Cells Competitive Jun 5, 2009
Because it is not possible to move the laser source at this speed, the experts have developed optimized manufacturing systems which guide and focuses the light beam at the required points. We are currently experimenting with various laser sources and optical systems, Gillner explains. (Science Daily)
Healing wounds with lasers, vehicles that drive themselves, other cutting-edge optics May 27, 2009
He achieves an unprecedented deflection rate of a light beam by sending it through an ordinary planar waveguide whose optical properties can be nearly instantaneously modified by a separate pump laser beam incident from above ... The light level detected on the array thus preserves a recording, over time, of the light beam's intensity. (EurekAlert!)
A View Back Into Time May 11, 2009
Tyson said when a light beam traveling across the cosmos hits the atmosphere, "it gets bumped and jiggled and wiggled and smeared, and by the time it hits your detectors, it's this glowing smudge.". (AP Photo/NASA)Enter the Hubble Space Telescope. (CBS News)
Contest puts a big smile on a better image for Parkway dentists Apr 28, 2009
Then, Smith inspects the inside of the mouth with the special light beam. Any malignant cells glow white, while normal cells don t glow. (Rsolindale Parkway Transcript, MA)
The Harsh Surface Environment of Ve... Apr 17, 2009
The atmosphere of Venus is so thick that it refracts light enough that if there were a strong enough light beam, it would travel in a complete circle around the planet. If it were possible to see about 24,000 miles, someone standing on Venus could, in principle, see the back of his own head. (Suite101.com)
Decatur company retails meth scanner for police Apr 13, 2009
The hand-held, battery powered device, about the size of a power drill, shoots out an ultraviolet light beam to read the chemical signature of meth. The officer points the scanner at a suspect substance and gets an instant result on an illuminated display panel. (The Pantagraph newspaper)
Art with A.R.T. Apr 2, 2009
An assistant, called a tracker, follows the light beam with a paintbrush to realize the artist's vision. Lefens chose the Barber Institute as one of eight sites to implement the technique last year, and he visited Erie in November to train five staff members as trackers. (Erie Times-News, PA)
New organic material may speed Internet access Mar 16, 2009
The material, which is composed of small organic molecules with high nonlinear optical susceptibilities, mimics the behavior of the snowflakes covering the bricks when it is deposited into the slot, or gap, that separate silicon waveguides that control the propagation of light beams on an integrated optical circuit ... "With pure silicon," says Biaggio, "you can build waveguides that enable you to control light beam propagation, but you cannot get ultrafast light-to-light interaction. Using only... (EurekAlert!)
'Quantum Data Buffering' Scheme Demonstrated; Potentially Useful For Quantum Computers Feb 24, 2009
In the JQI work, each quantum image is carried by a light beam and consists of up to 100 "pixels." A pixel in one quantum image displays random and unpredictable changes say, in intensity, yet the corresponding pixel in the other image exhibits identical intensity fluctuations at the same time, and these fluctuations are independent from fluctuations in other pixels ... By using a gas cell to slow down one of the light beams to 500 times slower than the speed of light, the group has demonstrated... (Science Daily)
