— Pitt discoveries in quantum physics could change face of technology — Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have made advances in better understanding correlated quantum matter that could change technology as we know it, according to a study published…
— Mechanism of wine swirling explained — Wine drinkers know that swirling a good vintage around in a glass aerates the wine and releases its bouquet. Just how the process - known as 'orbital shaking' - works, however, has…
— Calculations with 14 quantum bits — The term entanglement was introduced by the Austrian Nobel laureate Erwin Schroedinger in 1935, and it describes a quantum mechanical phenomenon that while it can clearly be demonstrated…
— SU physicists first to observe rare particles produced at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN — Shortly after experiments on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the CERN laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland began yielding scientific data last fall, a group of scientists led by a…
— Enhancing the magnetism — 'The nation that controls magnetism will control the universe,' famed fictional detective Dick Tracy predicted back in 1935. Probably an overstatement, but there's little doubt the…
— An icy gaze into the Big Bang — Scientists of the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) in Innsbruck, Austria, have reached a milestone in the exploration of quantum gas mixtures. In an international…
— Is space like a chessboard? — Physicists at UCLA set out to design a better transistor and ended up discovering a new way to think about the structure of space…
— Physicists move closer to efficient single-photon sources — A team of physicists in the United Kingdom has taken a giant step toward realising efficient single-photon sources, which are expected to enable much-coveted completely secure optical…
— A small quantum leap — Northwestern University researchers have developed a new switching device that takes quantum communication to a new level. The device is a practical step toward creating a network that…
Light at the speed of a bicycle and much more
The speed of light, 300 million metres per second, was long thought an immutable constant and has defined our understanding of matter and energy but recent research in the area of optics and photonics is proving that we can manipulate light to some ingenious and hugely lucrative ends.
From the use of adaptive optics to catch perfect images of distant galaxies or detailed representations inside bio-specimens of, for example, mouse embryos, to electromagnetically induced transparency which can slow light to the speed of a bicycle - the field of optics and photonics is in the scientific vanguard.
The Institute of Physics (IOP) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are launching a new report today, Wednesday, 9 September, entitled Optics and photonics: Physics enhancing our lives, to highlight the most recent advances in the field and demonstrate the potentially lucrative ends a range of researchers have in sight.
This field of research has already had a revolutionary effect on all of our everyday lives. From optical fibres, hair-like strands of silica glass that transmit vast amounts of data around the world as fleeting pulses of light, to lasers built in to our CD and DVD players, much of the developed world's technological infrastructure is already structured on physicists' ability to play with light.
There is however still much more to come. Just one of the research areas highlighted in the report, plasmonics, shows how our understanding of light, in this case stemming from the way light interacts with silver and gold to give off a shiny sparkle, could lead to the development of metamaterial-based invisibility cloaks or super-strength solar cells for renewable energy generation.
Advances will have dramatic effects on technology used in security as, for example, iris recognition systems become more sophisticated; communications will become swifter and securer; medical imaging techniques will become more precise; and we will be able to manipulate the plentiful energy of the Sun to greater human benefit.
Dr Robert Kirby-Harris, chief executive at the Institute of Physics, said, 'We hope that this booklet illustrates how the research investment made by the EPSRC, and the support provided by the Institute to its membership, will enable the UK economy, and society at large, to benefit from the discoveries and advances being made in leading-edge physics research.'
Or subscribe for our Newsletter, a free e-mail publication. It is published practically every day.
Scientists tweak quantum force, reducing barrier to tiny devices
Scientist examines the physics of carbon nanotubes
Penning trap mass spectrometry technique uncovers new iron isomer
NIST microscope tracks nanoparticles in 3-D