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Researchers turn standard microscope into billion-pixel imaging beast
A team of researchers at the California Institute of Technology, led by Professor Changhuei Yang, have figured out a way to crank their microscopy up to 11. Usually, scientists are forced between a rock and a hard place: they can have high res images of small areas or low resolution pictures of larger fields. Using a strategy known as Fourier ptychographic microscopy, Yang's team was able to computationally correct a standard microscope's low res imagery, producing a billion-pixel picture. By adding an LED array to an existing microscope -- the only hardware tweak their $200 system calls for -- the researchers were able to stitch together a 20X quality image from a 2X optical lens. The information gleaned from the LED lights was corrected entirely on a computer, making it an exceptionally cost effective way to create high res microscopic images. The team's report, published by the journal Nature Phototonics, can be read in full at the source link below.
New wireless transmission tech hits 2.56Tbps, leaves WiFi feeling inadequate
Stoked about the gigabit speeds your new 802.11ac WiFi router is pumping out? One group of scientists hailing from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and universities in the US, Israel and China isn't so impressed, having generated a wireless signal clocking in at 2.56Tbps. Proof of the feat was published in Nature Photonics, which details their use of orbital angular momentum (OAM) to make the magic happen. Current wireless protocols alter the spin angular momentum (SAM) of radio waves to hold info, and by combining both methods the team was able to pack eight data steams into a single signal, resulting in the mouth-watering number noted above. The best part is, applying different levels of OAM twist to SAM-based transmissions theoretically allows an infinite number of streams per signal, meaning seriously increased bandwidth without the need for additional frequency. So far the wireless tests have only been conducted over a measly 1m, but the scientists reckon it'll work at distances up to 1km and that the concept could also be used to boost speeds in existing fiber-optic cables. As with many scientific advances, it's unlikely hardware capable of such speeds will be available any time soon, so 802.11ac will have to suffice... for now.
Researchers slow light to a "crawl," photonic computers imminent
While other divisions of NTT are trying to rev up data transmission rates as high as possible, others are trying to slow down the speed of light. This might seem like a Sisyphean task, but those Japanese scientists have done it -- researchers from the telco giant have just published a paper in the January edition of Nature Photonics showing that by using synthetic "photonic crystals," light can be slowed to 5.8 kilometers per second (it normally goes at about 300,000 kilometers per second). We ought to point out, though, that this isn't the first time that light has been slowed down so much, with a team at Harvard achieving the task last year by using ultra-cold Bose-Einstein condensates, and another study at Harvard showed in 2003 that light could be slowed all the way to 38 mph. Still, all of this research is another step forward in "photonic computing," which aims to use trapped light to usurp more traditional electron storage in traditional computer logic. We're sure that once this technology gets transferred to consumer-grade laptops (like, say in 2020), we'll be able to render 12-dimensional shapes in no time at all. [Image courtesy The Economist]Read - The RegisterRead - TechworldRead - New Scientist
