A team of astronomers has discovered one of the biggest black holes ever found, taking advantage of a phenomenon called gravitational lensing.
Astronomy
Mar 28, 2023
28
436
The technological advancement of optical lenses has long been a significant marker of human scientific achievement. Eyeglasses, telescopes, cameras, and microscopes have all literally and figuratively allowed us to see the ...
Optics & Photonics
May 16, 2022
0
187
In the time since the first exoplanet was discovered in 1992, astronomers have detected more than 5,000 planets orbiting other stars. But when astronomers detect a new exoplanet, we don't learn a lot about it: We know that ...
Astronomy
May 2, 2022
5
2611
Holograms are three-dimensional (3D) images produced by interfering beams of light that reflect physical objects or photographs. In recent years, they were introduced in a variety of settings, for instance to enhance employee ...
Quick bursts of laser light, lasting less than a trillionth of a second, are used in a range of applications today. These ultrashort laser pulses have allowed scientists to observe chemical reactions in real-time, image delicate ...
Optics & Photonics
Nov 11, 2021
0
289
Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have designed one of the most precise stopwatches yet—not for timing Olympic sprinters and swimmers, but for counting single photons, or the tiny packets of energy that ...
Optics & Photonics
Aug 24, 2021
0
696
Radio telescopes are the world's most sensitive radio receivers, capable of finding extremely faint wisps of radio emission coming from objects at the farthest reaches of the universe. Recently, a team of astronomers used ...
Astronomy
Mar 16, 2021
0
10148
Polished glass has been at the center of imaging systems for centuries. Their precise curvature enables lenses to focus light and produce sharp images, whether the object in view is a single cell, the page of a book, or a ...
Optics & Photonics
Feb 22, 2021
1
2012
Despite all the advances in consumer technology over the past decades, one component has remained frustratingly stagnant: the optical lens. Unlike electronic devices, which have gotten smaller and more efficient over the ...
Optics & Photonics
Jan 27, 2021
1
792
When scientists and engineers discover new ways to optimize existing materials, it paves the way for innovations that make everything from our phones and computers to our medical equipment smaller, faster, and more efficient.
Materials Science
Oct 17, 2019
0
928
