Hidden in plain sight
The idea of being able to become invisible, especially by simply covering up a person or an object with a special cloak, has a perennial appeal in science-fiction and fantasy literature. In recent...
View ArticleThe quantum singularity
Quantum computers are computers that exploit the weird properties of matter at extremely small scales. Many experts believe that a full-blown quantum computer could perform calculations that would be...
View ArticleTiny stamps for tiny sensors
Advances in microchip technology may someday enable clinicians to perform tests for hundreds of diseases — sifting out specific molecules, such as early stage cancer cells — from just one drop of...
View ArticleFour innovative technologies garner 2012 R&D 100 Awards for MIT Lincoln...
MIT Lincoln Laboratory received four 2012 R&D 100 Awards for technologies developed for diverse applications: improving air traffic management, enabling wide-field-of-view optics, providing secure...
View ArticleSingle-photon transmitter could enable new quantum devices
In theory, quantum computers should be able to perform certain kinds of complex calculations much faster than conventional computers, and quantum-based communication could be invulnerable to...
View ArticleA new way to trap light
There are several ways to “trap” a beam of light — usually with mirrors, other reflective surfaces, or high-tech materials such as photonic crystals. But now researchers at MIT have discovered a new...
View ArticleResearch points toward better colonoscopy
MIT researchers have developed a new endoscopy technology that could make it easier for doctors to detect precancerous lesions in the colon. Early detection of such lesions has been shown to reduce...
View ArticleA new angle on controlling light
Light waves can be defined by three fundamental characteristics: their color (or wavelength), polarization, and direction. While it has long been possible to selectively filter light according to its...
View ArticleHarnessing the speed of light
The fields of data communication, fabrication, and ultrasound imaging share a common challenge when it comes to improving speed and efficiency: light’s diffraction limit. Nicholas Fang thinks his group...
View ArticleA mirror with a peephole
When light shines through air onto water, some of the light usually will be reflected back into the air. But at one specific angle, called the Brewster angle, all of the p-polarized light travels into...
View ArticleTeaching light new tricks
Light is a slippery fellow. Stand in a darkened hallway and close a door to a lighted room: Light will sneak through any cracks — it doesn't want to be confined. "Typically, in free space, light will...
View ArticleA mollusk of a different stripe
The blue-rayed limpet is a tiny mollusk that lives in kelp beds along the coasts of Norway, Iceland, the United Kingdom, Portugal, and the Canary Islands. These diminutive organisms — as small as a...
View ArticleKeith Doyle receives 2015 SPIE Technology Achievement Award
Keith B. Doyle, leader of the Structural and Thermal-Fluids Engineering Group at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, has been named the 2015 recipient of the SPIE Technology Achievement Award. The award annually...
View ArticleFujimoto receives the OSA Frederic Ives Medal
The Optical Society (OSA) announced on March 1 the selection of Professor James G. Fujimoto as the recipient of the Frederic Ives Medal / Quinn Prize. He is recognized for pioneering the field of...
View ArticleHu selected for 2015 Holonyak, Jr. Award
Qing Hu, the MIT Distinguished Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and principal investigator in the Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE) has been selected by the board of...
View ArticleImaging with an “optical brush”
Researchers at the MIT Media Lab have developed a new imaging device that consists of a loose bundle of optical fibers, with no need for lenses or a protective housing.The fibers are connected to an...
View ArticleMixing solids and liquids enhances optical properties of both
By immersing glass particles in a fluid, researchers at MIT’s Media Lab and Harvard University are exploring a new mechanism for modifying an optical device’s diffusivity, or the extent to which it...
View ArticleHow photosynthetic pigments harvest light
Plants and other photosynthetic organisms use a wide variety of pigments to absorb different wavelengths of light. MIT researchers have now developed a theoretical model to predict the spectrum of...
View ArticleTeam invents method to shrink objects to the nanoscale
MIT researchers have invented a way to fabricate nanoscale 3-D objects of nearly any shape. They can also pattern the objects with a variety of useful materials, including metals, quantum dots, and...
View ArticleSchool of Engineering welcomes new faculty
The School of Engineering is welcoming 11 new faculty members to its departments, institutes, labs, and centers. With research and teaching activities ranging from the development of novel microscopy...
View ArticleIntegrated lightwave electronics
Light waves oscillate far faster than most sensors can respond. A solar cell, or the infrared photodetector used to receive the signal from the remote in your DVR, can only sense the total energy...
View Article3D printing tiny parts for big impact
Whether it’s computer chips, smartphone components, or camera parts, the hardware in many products is constantly getting smaller. The trend is pushing companies to come up with new ways to make the...
View ArticleMIT scientists develop low-cost, high-precision fabrication method for thin...
Technologies that depend on lightweight, high-precision optical systems, like space telescopes, X-ray mirrors, and display panels, have developed significantly over the past several decades, but more...
View ArticleResearchers create the first artificial vision system for both land and water
Giving our hardware sight has empowered a host of applications in self-driving cars, object detection, and crop monitoring. But unlike animals, synthetic vision systems can’t simply evolve under...
View ArticleMIT affiliates honored with 2023 Optica awards and medals
MIT Professor Marin Soljačić and four additional MIT alumni — Vanderlei Salvador Bagnato PhD '87, Turan Erdogan '87, Harold Metcalf ’62, and Andrew Weiner '79, SM '81, ScD '84 —areamong 17 recipients...
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