Strengthening electron-triggered light emission
A new method can produce a hundredfold increase in light emissions from a type of electron-photon coupling, which is key to electron microscopes and other technologies.
New device can control light at unprecedented speeds
Researchers have developed a programmable optical device for high-speed beam steering.
Deep learning with light
A new method uses optics to accelerate machine-learning computations on smart speakers and other low-power connected devices.
Astronomers find a “cataclysmic” pair of stars with the shortest orbit yet
The stars circle each other every 51 minutes, confirming a decades-old prediction.
Study: Astronomers risk misinterpreting planetary signals in JWST data
Refining current opacity models will be key to unearthing details of exoplanet properties — and signs of life — in data from the powerful new telescope.
MIT team reports giant response of semiconductors to light
The materials’ stiffness increases up to 40 percent, in a reversible effect, the researchers report in a study that also explains the phenomenon's atomic origins.
Engineers repurpose 19th-century photography technique to make stretchy, color-changing films
The technique opens a door to manufacturing of pressure-monitoring bandages, shade-shifting fabrics, or touch-sensing robots.
Physicists harness quantum “time reversal” to measure vibrating atoms
A new technique could improve the precision of atomic clocks and of quantum sensors for detecting dark matter or gravitational waves.
Robotic lightning bugs take flight
Inspired by fireflies, researchers create insect-scale robots that can emit light when they fly, which enables motion tracking and communication.
Engineers build LEGO-like artificial intelligence chip
The new design is stackable and reconfigurable, for swapping out and building on existing sensors and neural network processors.
Astronomers snap first-ever image of supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*
The image reveals a glowing, donut-shaped ring at the Milky Way’s heart.
Astronomers discover a rare “black widow” binary, with the shortest orbit yet
The system is orbited by third stellar companion and may have originated near the center of the Milky Way.
Physicists find direct evidence of strong electron correlation in a 2D material for the first time
The discovery could help researchers engineer exotic electrical states such as unconventional superconductivity.
More sensitive X-ray imaging
Improvements in the material that converts X-rays into light, for medical or industrial images, could allow a tenfold signal enhancement.
Light could boost performance of fuel cells, lithium batteries, and other devices
With many devices depending on the motion of ions, light could be used as a switch to turn ion motion on and off.