Quantum batteries a step closer with superabsorption breakthrough
Research gets us closer to super-fast charging batteries.
Quantum batteries are now closer to reality, with proof of the idea of superabsorption by an international team of re...
optics
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Explainer
How do magnifying glasses work?
How can you make things look bigger with a bit of glass?
How do magnifying glasses work?ElwinA magnifying glass is a great thing to bring on a summer evening walk – you c...
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Getting a clearer view around the corner
Research takes a new approach to non-line-of-site imaging.
Researchers from the US and Spain say they have drawn on the lessons of classical optics to show that it is possible ...
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Human aesthetics obstructs tech efficiency
Letting computers work out design often results in incomprehensible forms – and that’s exactly wh...
Computer-assisted advances in optics, photonics, and related sciences are producing new designs so different from any...
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Colourful crystals
Polarising filters reveal hidden properties in these crystals.
Crystals of the antiviral drug 2-3 dideoxyadenosine, also known as ddA, seen through a microscope under polarised lig...
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Eyes of the scallop
Scallops see with an array of up to 200 eyes that use mirrors instead of lenses.
Three eyes of a Pecten maximus scallop. Credit: Dan-Eric Nilsson, Lund UniversityResearchers have obtained a detail...
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Need a better microscope? Add mirrors
An elegant way to overcome the problems of lens-making.
From pre-classical times onwards, it could be argued, lens-makers have been the unsung heroes of science.As early a...
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Friday profile: making tiny tech from sunlight
Baohua Jia’s research is producing heavy results from light science. Amy Middleton reports.
Microphotonics – a field of light science that deals with nano-fabrication and the manipulation of microscopic partic...
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Tougher, shinier mirrors boost telescope power
A durable silver coating for mirrors may provide an easy upgrade for optical telescopes around th...
The world’s big astronomical telescopes could soon all get a performance upgrade without the need for installing bigg...
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Schlieren optics and shadowgraphs
Revealing minute changes in the refractive index of air.
The optical technique known as schlieren photography allows us to see small changes in the index of refraction in air...
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Vantablack, the blackest material ever made
Light-trapping carbon nanotubes are the secret ingredient.
The futuristic, eye-wrenching Vantablack coating is billed as “blacker than black”, and it lives up to the claim. The...
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Groovy light-absorbing films could boost night vision
Infrared technology may become a lot cheaper and easier to use. Belinda Smith reports.
Thin grooves, etched in a film, direct light sideways. The end result? Almost all light is absorbed. A smooth layer, ...