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Researchers build a working tractor beam, on a very small scale
We recently saw research that suggested negative radiation pressure in light could lead to a practical tractor beam. A partnership between the Czech Republic's Institute of Scientific Instruments and Scotland's University of St. Andrews can show that it's more than just theory: the two have successfully created an optical field that flipped the usual pressure and started pulling objects toward the light. Their demo only tugged at the particle level -- sorry, no spaceships just yet -- but it exhibited unique properties that could be useful here on Earth. Scientists discovered that the pull is specific to the size and substance of a given object, and that targets would sometimes reorganize themselves in a way that improved the results. On the current scale, that pickiness could lead to at least medicinal uses, such as sorting cells based on their material. While there's more experiments and development to go before we ever see a tractor beam at the hospital, the achievement brings us one step closer to the sci-fi future we were always told we'd get, right alongside the personal communicators and jetpacks.
Metamaterial camera needs no lens, could herald cheaper imaging tech
Metamaterials are proving to be quite useful for toying with the electromagnetic spectrum, whether for technology previously thought to be the stuff of science fiction, or for boring real-world applications. Engineers at Duke University have come up something that falls more into the latter category: a metamaterial imaging sensor that doesn't require a lens to generate a picture. The sensor is a flexible copper-plated sheet patterned with small squares that capture various light frequencies all at once, functioning like one big aperture. Add a few circuits with a pinch of software and the sensor-only camera can produce up to ten images per second, but the catch is Duke's only works at microwave frequencies. Microwave imaging is used plenty, however, and due to its flexibility and lack of moving parts, the sensor could be used to build better integrated, cheaper airport scanners and vehicle collision avoidance technology -- making you safer however you choose to travel. Unless you take the train. Then you're on your own.
Scientists demonstrate unjammable radar based on quantum imaging
Unfortunately for those in the enemy tracking game, sophisticated aircraft-equipped anti-detection systems can outfox radar by intercepting the signal and sending back a false image, as shown above. However, researchers from the University of Rochester have figured out a technique to defeat such a jamming system that harnesses the quantum properties of light. By polarizing photons before sending them toward objects to be scanned, any attempt at modifying the returning photons caused quantum interference that was easy to detect, in the form of the very high polarization errors shown in the second false image. According to the team, such a a system could "easily be realized and integrated into modern optical ranging and imaging systems," with a little work, making it infinitely more difficult to defeat radar systems. Check the source for more "light" reading, provided that quantum mechanics doesn't break your brain.
Caltech invention focuses light like never before, could bolster next-gen communication platforms
Light. What is it? What isn't it? Such are the questions left to the experts at Caltech, which have just concocted a new device that can focus light to a point just a few nanometers wide. That kind of precision has never been done at scale, and the university is hoping that the invention could help "pave the way for the next-generation of communication, computing, and even imaging technology." In lay terms, it could allow increased bandwidth for fiber optics, and since it's built on-chip, integration with existing doodads shouldn't be too much of a hassle. Previous on-chip nanofocusing devices were only able to focus light into a narrow line, making them inefficient, whereas Caltech's contraption can be focused in three dimensions, producing a point a few nanometers across, and using half of the light that's sent through. Hyuck Choo seems to think that it can be put to use in short order in the medical field, but it remains to be seen if we'll see this in the next wave of Google Fiber rollouts. But hey, a lowly DSL user can hope, right?
'A Slower Speed of Light' is an open-source game on special relativity from MIT Game Lab
The behavior of light may seem static and uninteresting (it's bright and fast, we get it), but there's actually an incredible amount of science going on that we generally don't experience during our normal lives.A Slower Speed of Light, a new open-source game for PC and OSX from MIT Game Lab, explores the more intricate and interesting behaviors of light in a "relativistic game engine." As players collect objects, the speed of light is slowed and players are able to experience phenomena such as the Doppler effect, time dilation and the Lorentz transformation, among others.While the open-source aspects of this project are not yet available, the plan is to release the game's Unity3D-based engine as OpenRelativity sometime in 2013. For now, the game itself can be downloaded here. %Gallery-170585%
GreenWave Reality ships WiFi-aware light bulbs that flick on through motion and smartphones
We've seen connected light bulbs before, some more sophisticated than others, but they're rarely as straightforward as GreenWave Reality's just-shipping Connected Lighting Solution. Eco-friendly LED bulbs in the lineup include support for WiFi and are immediately controllable from a smartphone or tablet as soon as they're receiving power. Basics controls like group presets and timed lighting are just the start; if you're not worried about leaving anyone in the dark, the bulbs can respond to motion sensors and only illuminate the rooms that need attention. And while the intelligence isn't new in itself, GreenWave would argue that sheer accessibility gives it an edge, with electric utilities in Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden skipping the retail middleman by selling directly. Don't despair if you live in the US: the linked-up lighting is cleared for eventual use by Americans who'd like to save both energy and a trip to the light switch.
Tweetdeck updated with themes and new fonts
Twitter clients are like political candidates these days -- everyone's got one they like, and no one really wants to hear about the ones they don't. For me, TweetDeck is still my client of choice. Even though I've heard good things about TweetBot for Mac and a few other options out there, nothing newer has caught my eye. That's why I'm glad to hear that TweetDeck just got updated, and my client of choice has a few new tricks to it. The biggest change is that the client now supports themes, so if you don't like that dark default look, you can easily switch it over to a much lighter theme with dark text on a white background. You can also now customize the font that displays your tweets, and there are a few other new options and features to play around with. Yes, you might have moved on to a different Twitter client, for whatever reasons you've chosen to do so. But for those of us using TweetDeck, an update like this is very welcome indeed. [via Engadget]
MooresCloud Light runs Linux, puts LAMP on your lamp (video)
Yes, we'll admit that we borrowed that pun in the title. MooresCloud founder Mark Pesce's Xzibit reference is still a very apt description of the Light, his company's Linux-based LED lamp. The Australian team's box-shaped illumination runs the open OS (including a LAMP web server stack) on an integrated mini PC with an accelerometer and WiFi. The relative power and networking provide obvious advantages for home automation that we've seen elsewhere, but it's the sheer flexibility of a generalized, web-oriented platform that makes the difference: the Light can change colors based on photos or movement, sync light pulses to music and exploit a myriad of other tricks that should result from a future, web-based app store. When and how the Light launches will depend on a Kickstarter campaign to raise $700,000 AUD ($717,621 US) starting on October 16th, although the $99 AUD ($101 US) cost is just low enough that we could see ourselves open-sourcing a little more of the living room. At least, as long as we don't have to recompile our lamp kernel before some evening reading.
Black Desert shows off time transitions
We've all sat down to play our favorite game in the evening only to be alerted to the time by sunlight filtering in through the window. In many games, however, day and night are simply toggles -- the game goes from dark to light, possibly with some dimming or brightening along the way. Black Desert is going for a more realistic approach, and a new set of photos shows off the game's transition from the deep of night into the brightness of day. According to translations, a full day cycle runs in four hours, with a gradual progression of the sun from the horizon to its zenith and then back down again. The result are shadows and light patterns that reflect the time of day. Time will also be reflected in the habits of NPCs, with shopkeepers returning home to rest and monsters swarming in increased numbers. There will also be content only available during the day or night, something to look forward to as the sun rises or sets.
Ikea to sell only LED-based lighting by 2016, wants to be greener than your sofa bed
While some wouldn't necessarily associate Ikea with eco-friendliness given that its business revolves around plywood, the furniture chain has just staked out a clearer position as a green pioneer. It's phasing out sales of all lighting that isn't LED-based by 2016, making it the first major home furnishing shop with a US presence to entirely banish less efficient illumination. Ikea also wants to take advantage of its economies of scale with the "lowest price on the market" for LEDs, which could shake up an industry where anything beyond incandescent technology usually carries a premium. We'll still have some time to wait for the full switch, but the company at least plans to practice what it preaches by replacing over a million store lights with LEDs -- so those of us with no light replacement plans can still feel as green as the Beddinge Håvet we're taking home. [Image credit: Rainchill, Wikipedia]
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite review
More Info Amazon announces $119 Kindle Paperwhite with illuminated, capacitive touch display Amazon Kindle Paperwhite hands-on Amazon breaks down its Kindle Paperwhite light technology (video) If you had told us at roughly this time last year that the e-reader race would be heating up going into the 2012 holiday season, we would have disagreed. If anything, 2011 seemed like the beginning of the end. Spurred on by the tablet explosion, companies like Amazon, Barnes & Noble and even Kobo were looking toward that space for inspiration, introducing flagship devices on which reading was just one of many features. Heck, even the readers themselves started to look more tablet-like, with many abandoning of physical keyboards in favor of infrared touchscreens. But here we are at the end of September, and this product category has never been more exciting. Back in May, Barnes & Noble captured our hearts and midnight reading marathons with the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight, a wordy name for a great little device that made reading in bed at night a little easier. (A problem, according to Barnes & Noble, that was tearing the country's families apart.) But don't let it be said that Amazon doesn't believe in the American family. Earlier this month, the company launched the Kindle Paperwhite, the latest addition to a product lineup that has more or less become synonymous with the term "e-reader." At that launch event, CEO Jeff Bezos described the four years of R&D that went into the front light technology powering that bright screen. It was clear from our hands-on time with the device that, although Amazon is placing extra emphasis on the Fire line these days, it still has a lot invested in the e-reader fight. The sharpened, illuminated text is impressive, and Amazon has gone so far as to describe this as the Kindle it's always wanted to build. That's all well and good, but how does it compare to similar offerings on the market? Is this worth the $119 asking price (with ads)? Let's find out.
Spotted at IDF: NEC's lightweight LaVie Z Ultrabook (hands-on video)
Remember NEC's LaVie Z Ultrabook we first heard about at Computex? It's a super light (875g / 1.93 lbs) and thin (15mm / 0.59-inch) magnesium alloy system running Windows 7 that's only available in Japan and we just spotted it here at IDF 2012 in San Francisco. Spec-wise you're looking at a 1.9GHz third-generation (Ivy Bridge) Core i7 CPU, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD with integrated Intel HD 4000 GPU driving a 13.3-inch 1600 x 900-pixel display. It features an SD card slot on the left side, audio, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, HDMI and power connectors on the right edge along with the obligatory webcam. We spent a few minutes using the LaVie Z and were quite impressed with how lightweight and well made it is. It feels like a premium Ultrabook yet still looks unique -- unlike the plethora of me-too designs the PC industry's been dumping on the market lately (yes, we're looking at you, HP). The screen is nice and bright with decent viewing angles. NEC's done a good job with the button-less trackpad which is properly responsive. Sadly the keyboard is a bit of a mixed bag -- the short travel and small surface area of the individual keys will be an issue for some. Want to know more? Check out the gallery below and hit the break for our hands-on video.%Gallery-164973%
Alt-week 9.1.12: growing bones, repairing voices, and a pair of satellites
Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days. There's definitely more than a touch of a biological theme to proceedings this week. In fact, so much so that we thought we might well end up with enough ingredients to make our own cyborg. Or rather, a light-responding canine cyborg with a really cool voice. Yep, science and technology is working hard to make all of these things possible -- albeit independently. If science ever does do the right thing, and pool its resources on such a project, you can thanks us for the tip off. This is Alt-week.
Insert Coin: Luminode dimmer switch runs on a mesh network, learns to light up our lives (video)
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line. Just a simple light switch, you say? Look closer. Think Automatic's Luminode dimmer switch hides both a processor and a mesh network connection that lets every switch in the home coordinate with each other. A multi-tap system makes it possible to link multiple lights together without extra wiring or complex programming, but that's just the start: it's possible to create "scenes" of predefined lighting levels and, with a USB adapter, hook up to home automation systems (including Think Automatic's own) that can learn usage habits, track energy consumption or simply let us control the array with our smartphones. The platform uses raw XML to communicate and already talks to GE, Insteon and Stargate hardware -- all without requiring a huge grid of buttons or displays. Development of the Luminode is very nearly done after six-plus years of work in Seattle. The hardware is fundamentally ready and just needs the Kickstarter project to finish its FCC and UL testing along with the obligatory mass production. The hope is to start delivering switches in January as well as integrate more closely with non-lighting elements in the future. Pledge levels are dictated almost exclusively by volume: $130 is what it takes to get a basic two-switch kit, $260 will add the USB adapter along with an extra switch, and successive levels scale all the way up to a 50-switch, $3,000 kit for large homes. Think Automatic has a relatively low $35,000 threshold to meet its Kickstarter funding, but it only has 13 days left to go. If you like the idea of advanced lighting that doesn't require an advanced appreciation of the user manual to understand, now's a good time to click the source link and make it happen.
Explosion-proof flashlight could be the first to outlive its owner
You know the drill, walking through that mine field, only to lose another good flashlight when you drop it on one of those puppies. Well if this is a concern of yours, the EXP-LED-51 from Larson Electronics should see you right. The latest in its like of hazardous location devices, the rugged LED torch is rechargeable, has 180 lumens of output and rated for 50,000 hours of service in the (dark) field (480 hours on one charge in the lowest power mode). For the man (or woman) on the move, the EXP-LED-51 also comes with a 12V car charger, as well as the standard VAC outlets. How much for this level of resilience? That'd be 320 bulletproof dollars.
MIT researchers develop chip that can harvest energy from multiple sources
We've seen a number of different devices that can harvest energy from various sources, but none quite like this new chip developed by a team of MIT researchers. It's able to harvest energy from three different sources simultaneously: light, heat and vibrations. The key to that is a sophisticated control system that's able to rapidly switch between the three sources at all times to prevent any of that energy from going to waste (and not draw too much power itself), with energy from the secondary sources stored in capacitors to be picked up later -- as opposed to existing systems that simply switch between sources based on what's most plentiful. As doctoral student Saurav Bandyopadhyay explains, efficiently managing those disparate sources could be a "big advantage since many of these sources are intermittent and unpredictable," and it could in turn lead to the chip being used in a range of different applications where batteries or existing energy harvesting methods just aren't enough: everything from environmental sensors in remote locations to biomedical devices.
NEC's LaVie Z Ultrabook has definitely lost weight: just 875 grams and priced from $1,600 in Japan
No one complained when we reported NEC's initial claimed weight of 999 grams (2.2 pounds) for its LaVie Z Ultrabook, but it turns out that statistic is brutally unfair. The 13.3-inch laptop actually tips the scales at just 875 grams (1.9 pounds) thanks to the magnesium lithium alloy used in its 0.59-inch chassis -- not bad when you consider that there are still 1.3kg netbooks wandering the planet. Of course, in line with Intel's official Ultrabook spec, you're getting a minimum Core i5-3317U processor (yes, that's Ivy Bridge) and 128GB SSD, plus USB 3.0, SDXC slot, HDMI out and a claimed battery life of 8.1 hours. There's no word on US pricing yet, but that base spec will set you back ¥130,000 ($1,600) in Japan, while the top model with Core i7-3517U and 256GB SSD will add another ¥30,000 ($375) to your bill.
MIT thaumaturges work to turn any windowed room into a camera obscura
Those interested in criminology, forensics or the basics of voyeurism probably have a decent grasp on what a camera obscura is. For everyone else in the audience, allow us to explain. Used since way before your birth, these chambers are designed with an optical device that projects an image of its surroundings on a screen; you just need a room with a hole in one side, which allows a fine amount of light to pass through. If you've ever watched [insert crime drama here], you've probably seen those magical investigators take a blurred shot of a room wall, zoom it in and somehow draw conclusions about the origins of life. Now, MIT's own Antonio Torralba and William Freeman have developed a method that can "transform the entire setting into a pinhole camera." In other words, any room with a window can be repurposed for forensics. On that note, you should probably consider moving your... operations center to a windowless bunker, STAT.
CordLite illuminated iOS dock connector cable hands-on (video)
Love or hate it, Apple's 30-pin dock connector is no easier to attach than a standard micro-USB plug. That's not to say that it's tremendously difficult to link an iOS device with its proprietary cable, but it can be a nuisance on occasion, especially when you're fumbling around in the dark. CordLite makes that standard-issue dock connector cable a bit more nighttime friendly, adding a pair of touch-activated white LEDs to the left and right of the metal lead. Instead of the familiar white, this third-party Apple cable is finished in black (white is available, too), with a silver connector at the tail end. That component itself is noticeably wider, longer and thicker than its Apple-designed counterpart, but that's to be expected, given the added electronics. After you connect the USB plug to a computer or power source, the opposite end is ready to go to work, lighting up just as soon as you touch its metal housing. It powers off just as quickly, once it's docked with your iPhone, iPad or iPod. We took the cable for a spin earlier today, and while the device we received is an early prototype, it still worked just fine, lighting up and turning off on cue, and pairing our iPhone with a MacBook just as any old dock connector cable has in the past. There's not much more to it than that -- the cable works, and we can see how it could be useful in low-light situations, such as at the bedside, in a car or while riding on a plane. It could theoretically also double as a flash light, and given that you're most likely to use it in a dark environment, it could be equally suited for non-iOS-related scenarios as well. CordLite isn't available for purchase yet, but you can be one of the first to receive a cable if you hop on board the company's Kickstarter campaign. Pledges of $30 or more will net you one CordLite in black or white after the device's estimated October ship date -- assuming the project meets its $70,000 funding goal before next week. For now, you can take a closer look in our hands-on video after the break, and rest assured that your days of blindly connecting your iPhone may very well be numbered.%Gallery-158639%
Ben Heck gives dads the light-up toilet they deserve
Happy belated Father's Day, internet -- now please enjoy some video of Ben Heck modding a toilet. The tinkerer-turned-host offered up one of his more unsanitary projects over the weekend, involving a bathmat, a Glade Plug-in, a porcelain throne and a Tron-esque lighting scheme. Step on the weight-sensing mat and the conductive ink will go to work, lighting up side illuminating fiber optics on the toilet, should the photocell determine it dark enough. All of this means not having to turn on the bathroom lights once that nightcap is ready to make the next step in its magical journey. And best of all, the lighting scheme is visible underneath the lid, so you can put the seat down, like the civilized individual you are. Video after the break.
