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microscope nears
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A
pair of lenses the size of a printed period
are a key step toward making microscopes tiny
enough to capture images of cells as they
work within the human body. The trick was
building minuscule motors to focus the lenses.
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Crystal
turns heat to light
Your average lightbulb is extremely inefficient,
squandering at least 90 percent of its energy as
waste heat. An experimental material that channels
more energy into lightwaves could make lighting
more efficient, and would spare burned fingertips
along the way. The material could also help produce
electricity.
Frozen
reservoir fuels atom lasers
Freeze a small cloud of atoms to just above absolute
zero and the atoms snap into lockstep, acting as
one. Merging two of these fragile frozen clouds
paves the way for lasers that fire continuous beams
of atoms rather than light. Atom lasers could lead
to smaller computer circuits and ultrasensitive
movement sensors.
Groups
key to network searches
Being an obvious member of a group turns out to
be what puts you in the six-degrees-of-separation
scheme of things. Knowing who is likely to know
someone who knows someone is really a matter of
knowing what groups your acquaintances belong to.
These findings could make for better Web searches.
Reverb
keeps secrets safe and sound
Clap your hands in an empty room and sound reverberates
off the walls. This simple fact of acoustics could
lead to a way to send secret messages to submerged
submarines.
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