Subscribe now

light

Physics

Sunlight could cool an atom to its coldest possible temperature

Sunlight transmitted through an optical fibre could be used to help cool a single charged atom to a temperature only a few millionths of a degree above absolute zero

News

Subscriber-only

Sunlight coming out of the optical fibre

Physics

Can recreating black holes in the lab solve the puzzles of space-time?

Features

Subscriber-only

Can recreating black holes in the lab solve the puzzles of space-time?

Chemistry

Octopus-inspired ink changes colour when exposed to light

News

Free

Octopus-inspired ink changes colour when exposed to light
A butterfly flies near to a light at night

Video

Slow motion footage reveals why insects are attracted to lights

Video

Free

Technology

Incandescent lamp could save energy by recycling infrared light

News

Free

Caption Illustration of the double-slit experiment, showing a plane wave (top left) passing through a screen with two gaps. The gaps act as new wave sources and the wavefronts bend to create two sets of circular waves radiating outwards. These two new waves create an interference pattern as they interact. At the point where a wave peak from one hits a wave peak from another, or a trough hits a trough, they reinforce each other; their magnitudes are summed. This is known as constructive interference. Where a trough hits a peak, they cancel each other out. This is known as destructive interference.

Physics

Light interacts with its past self in twist on double-slit experiment

News

Free

crustacean larvae

Life

Prawn larvae conceal their eyes with reflectors to hide from predators

News

Free

Yi Zhang with the optical computer

Technology

Light-based computer could outpace traditional electrical chip designs

News

Free

Invisibility cloak

Technology

AI-designed invisibility cloak could hide small communication devices

News

Subscriber-only

Health

Light exposure may be linked to several mental health conditions

Multiple factors can contribute to different mental health conditions, but in the largest study of its kind, researchers suggest limited light exposure during the day or high levels of exposure at night may be involved

News

Subscriber-only

Exposure to high levels of light at night may be linked to certain mental health conditions

Space

Jet from neutron stars seems to travel seven times the speed of light

News

Subscriber-only

Health

Some doses of blue light from screens may not affect your sleep

News

Free

Technology

Anti-laser can make any object suck in light

News

Free

Physics

Whirlpools made of light can be twisted into the shape of a doughnut

News

Free