#PhotonicsFocus
LightNews LightNews
spie.org
Scientists don’t use ordinary cameras to capture space—they use data. In #PhotonicsFocus, discover how invisible wavelengths turn telescopic data into vivid images of temperature, composition, and structure. 🌌 #astro #photonics
Astro-color alchemists
Astronomers have a method for colorizing grayscale images from various space- and groundbased observatories.
spie.org
October 29, 2025 at 12:12 AM
spie.org
Color seems simple - until you realize it’s all in your head.

From John Dalton’s 1794 essays to modern #neuroscience, we’re still unraveling how we perceive color. But how do we pick apart what is one of the most subjective experiences? 🏵️

Read about it in the Sept/Oct issue of #PhotonicsFocus!
A most curious absence of color outside your head
Neuroscientists are still working to unravel how humans perceive color.
spie.org
October 26, 2025 at 11:54 PM
spie.org
Hospitals have used UVC light to disinfect surfaces for decades, and in 2017, CUIMC researchers showed its promise: far-UVC could safely inactivate airborne pathogens from living creatures without harming its host. ☀️

...So why isn’t it everywhere yet?

Find out in the newest #PhotonicsFocus Issue:
Far-UVC fix: The wavelength that harms viruses, not humans
Safe for skin but deadly to pathogens, far-ultraviolet C light could help fight the next pandemic—but only if engineers can build a cheap and efficient light source first.
spie.org
October 17, 2025 at 9:01 PM
spie.org
Like many rivers, Montana’s Gallatin River faces algal blooms that threaten its ecosystem. Researchers at MSU are building low-cost optical sensors to track river health in real time, turning #photonics into a tool for conservation.

Read more in the Sept/Oct issue of #PhotonicsFocus! #optics
Sensing troubled waters under the big sky
Networks of smart multi-spectral sensors may help monitor pollution like algal blooms in bodies of water.
spie.org
October 2, 2025 at 4:05 PM
spie.org
The optics industry can’t run without skilled technicians, and there aren’t enough of them.

MCC’s revived training program + the new SPIE Technicians Series aims to bridge the gap & keep innovation moving forward. 💡📕

Read more about the technician shortage in the Sept/Oct issue of #PhotonicsFocus!
Solving the optics technician shortage starts with education
A new Technician Training series published by SPIE Press addresses optics technician training in light of technician shortages.
spie.org
September 30, 2025 at 4:05 PM
spie.org
Color doesn’t exist outside the brain. 🧠

From fruit flies to humans, perception transforms raw light into hues, even nonspectral ones like purple. New work is mapping the neural circuits that make color possible. 🎨

Learn more about color perception in the Sept/Oct issue of #PhotonicsFocus!
A most curious absence of color outside your head
Neuroscientists are still working to unravel how humans perceive color.
spie.org
September 29, 2025 at 4:09 PM
spie.org
Before Silicon Valley, there was Edwin H. Land. The Polaroid founder pioneered instant photography, polarized lenses, & even advised on US spy satellites, shaping imaging tech long before the digital era.

Read more about Land's life & career in the #PhotonicsFocus Sept/Oct issue! #optics #photonics
Image of innovation: Edwin H. Land, developer of instant photography
Edwin H. Land, founder of the Polaroid Corporation, has been an inspiration for some of today's top technology founders.
spie.org
September 26, 2025 at 9:15 PM
spie.org
Space images from Hubble, Webb, Rubin, and Chandra don’t show “true” colors; they translate invisible wavelengths into visible ones. Colorization reveals hidden details and helps us understand the universe. 🔭 🛰️

Read more in the Sept/Oct issue of #PhotonicsFocus!
Astro-color alchemists
Astronomers have a method for colorizing grayscale images from various space- and groundbased observatories.
spie.org
September 25, 2025 at 3:47 PM
spie.org
Far-UVC light (222 nm) can kill viruses and bacteria without harming skin, making it a potential pandemic fighter. Now, researchers are trying to develop efficient, low-cost light sources so the technology can move from labs to everyday use.

Read more in the Sept/Oct issue of #PhotonicsFocus!
Far-UVC fix: The wavelength that harms viruses, not humans
Safe for skin but deadly to pathogens, far-ultraviolet C light could help fight the next pandemic—but only if engineers can build a cheap and efficient light source first.
spie.org
September 24, 2025 at 3:45 PM
spie.org
75 years ago, the NSF was founded to fund basic science in peacetime. Since then, it's helped build telescopes, launch research programs, and support generations of scientists.

Learn more about the legacy of the NSF in #PhotonicsFocus: spie.org/news/photon...
An observatory with a collection of telescopes on a hill during sunset.
June 30, 2025 at 7:01 PM
spie.org
ULTRASIP, a new tool from the University of Arizona, could detect wildfire smoke by tracking how it alters sunlight’s polarization, helping spot fires even when they’re out of sight.

Learn about this project in the latest issue of #PhotonicsFocus! ➡️ spie.org/news/photon...
Panoramic view of Mount Baker near a fire lookout tower, with snow-capped peaks and surrounding lush green forests under a clear blue sky. ULTRASIP, mounted on a tripod, set up on a rooftop with mountains in the background.
June 19, 2025 at 10:40 PM
spie.org
"The only way astronomers can measure distances to cosmic objects directly is with a technique called parallax." 🌌🔭🛰️

Explore more in the May/June issue of #PhotonicsFocus: spie.org/news/photon...
A depiction of Earth with the Milky Way galaxy in the background.
June 10, 2025 at 4:40 PM
spie.org
"Qubits are to quantum computers, just as transistors are to classical computers. However, unlike their classical cousins, qubits are fussier and more sensitive." ⚛️💡

Learn how researchers are trying to create stable qubits in the May/June issue of #PhotonicsFocus: spie.org/news/photon...
An abstract image of quantum technology.
June 8, 2025 at 8:34 PM
spie.org
"The attosecond electron microscope lives up to its name because it is designed to observe phenomena that play out at attosecond—one quintillionth of a second—timescales."

Learn how researchers are using attosecond imaging in the May/June issue of #PhotonicsFocus: spie.org/news/photon...
An attosecond electron microscope. The microscope is surrounded by equipment, and computer screens.
June 2, 2025 at 4:57 AM
spie.org
Richard A. Soref, the "founding father" of silicon #photonics, revolutionized the field with his 1980s research on photonic integrated circuits. 💡

Read more about his contributions in #PhotonicsFocus: www.spie.org/news/ph...
Richard A. Soref performing an experiment.
April 11, 2025 at 3:31 PM
spie.org
Two broad approaches are being taken to deliver the perfect single-photon source.

"The first is developing pair sources to 'herald' single photons, and the second is engineering isolated quantum systems that emit single photons."

Read more in #PhotonicsFocus: spie.org/news/photon...
February 14, 2025 at 2:57 PM
spie.org
"China launched Micius, a low Earth orbit satellite that proved secure, global quantum communications, and unbreachable quantum internet were very real prospects."

Quantum technology is constantly advancing. Learn the latest in #PhotonicsFocus: spie.org/news/photon...
Canada’s method of QKD involves generating a key using quantum encryption with a satellite and two ground-based stations, and then using that key to encrypt a message that is sent using a traditional method. Photo credit: Canadian Space Agency
January 24, 2025 at 1:58 AM
spie.org
Our team covered the life & legacy of "The Sun Queen" in #PhotonicsFocus! #WomenInSTEM

"She knew that research programs would only fully embrace solar research if the public got excited about it. She frequently appeared in popular magazines..."

Read the full profile here: spie.org/news/photoni...
December 12, 2024 at 8:57 PM
spie.org
Today’s best effort at generating tinier slices of time has yielded the #attosecond light pulse, which is fast enough to view electron behavior or to gain a more precise measurement of the size of an atom.

Read more in the Nov/Dec issue of #PhotonicsFocus: spie.org/news/photon...
Attosecond science: Nobel-worthy nonlinear optics on steroids
Today’s best effort at generating tinier slices of time has yielded the attosecond light pulse, which is fast enough to view electron behavior or to gain a more precise measurement of the size of an atom.
spie.org
December 12, 2024 at 8:45 PM
spie.org
#Lasers for space travel aren’t sci-fi anymore. Advances in scalable, phased-array lasers have opened up new propulsion methods.

"One possibility involves using the laser not so much as a source of light but of heat."💡

Read more about these developments in #PhotonicsFocus: spie.org/news/photoni...
Illustration of a laser-thermal propulsion spacecraft in orbit, awaiting its 45-day transit to Mars. Photo credit: E. Duplay for the Interstellar Flight Experimental Research Group. This illustration shows the solar-sail concept. Photo credit: NASA/Aero Animation/Ben Schweighar.
November 20, 2024 at 6:35 PM