Tag Archives: photonics
Color-changing smart skin gets an upgrade thanks to chameleons
Color-changing smart skin is nothing new, but scientists have had a hard time working out the kinks. Current smart skin is fragile and buckles after being exposed to varying temperatures. To help remedy that problem, scientists turned to analyzing de...
Holographic tech could be key to future quantum computers
A breakthrough in studying light might just be the ticket to the future of quantum computing. Researchers at EPFL have found a way to determine how light behaves beyond the limitations of wavelengths, opening the door to encoding quantum data in a s...
Twisted light could make wireless data faster than fiber
As fast as fiber optic lines have become, they're still hamstrung by one key limitation: you still need to transmit that data over wires, which limits where you can transmit and the affordability of the fastest connections. Scientists may have a way...
Lockheed Martin previews a future of tiny space telescopes
Current space telescopes are... big. You can't really avoid it given the need for giant lenses and bulky sensors. Lockheed Martin wants to fix that -- the aerospace firm has just released the first images from SPIDER (Segmented Planar Imaging Detecto...
Super-fast camera records light-based ‘sonic booms’
Scientists have suspected that light can create its own conical wakes, like a sonic boom, but how do you capture something that happens so quickly? With a very fast camera, naturally. Washington University in St. Louis has recorded these photonic sho...
HP successfully tests its vision of memory-focused computing
HP's grand dream for the future of computing, The Machine, is no longer just a set of clever ideas and hardware research. Hewlett Packard Enterprise (the business-focused company that emerged from HP's split) has successfully tested its Memory-Driven...
Light-based neural network could lead to super-fast AI
It's one thing to create computers that behave like brains, but it's something else to make them perform as well as brains. Conventional circuitry can only operate so quickly as part of a neural network, even if it's sometimes much more powerful tha...
NASA is making a data modem driven by light
Now that photonic (that is, light-based) chips are a practical reality, they're going to get their ultimate test: space. NASA is developing an integrated photonics modem that will be used to test high-speed laser communications between Earth and spa...
Researchers show off a working light-based processor
The year has been chock-full of scientific breakthroughs, but the University of Colorado is determined to finish 2015 with a bang. Its researchers have created what they say is the first full-fledged processor to transmit data using light instead of...