Nanostructures enable on-chip lightwave-electronic frequency mixer
Lightwave electronics aim to integrate optical and electronic systems at incredibly high speeds, leveraging the ultrafast oscillations of light fields.
Researchers leverage shadows to model 3D scenes, including objects blocked from view
This technique could lead to safer autonomous vehicles, more efficient AR/VR headsets, or faster warehouse robots.
Researchers demonstrate the first chip-based 3D printer
Smaller than a coin, this optical device could enable rapid prototyping on the go.
Modular, scalable hardware architecture for a quantum computer
A new quantum-system-on-chip enables the efficient control of a large array of qubits, moving toward practical quantum computing.
Physicists arrange atoms in extremely close proximity
The technique opens possibilities for exploring exotic states of matter and building new quantum materials.
How light can vaporize water without the need for heat
Surprising “photomolecular effect” discovered by MIT researchers could affect calculations of climate change and may lead to improved desalination and drying processes.
With a quantum “squeeze,” clocks could keep even more precise time, MIT researchers propose
More stable clocks could measure quantum phenomena, including the presence of dark matter.
In a surprising finding, light can make water evaporate without heat
A newly identified process could explain a variety of natural phenomena and enable new approaches to desalination.
Bright flash leads astronomers to a heavy-metal factory 900 million light years away
Using multiple observatories, astronomers directly detect tellurium in two merging neutron stars.
Tiny magnetic beads produce an optical signal that could be used to quickly detect pathogens
The findings point to faster way to detect bacteria in food, water, and clinical samples.
Machine-learning system based on light could yield more powerful, efficient large language models
MIT system demonstrates greater than 100-fold improvement in energy efficiency and a 25-fold improvement in compute density compared with current systems.
Chemists discover why photosynthetic light-harvesting is so efficient
The disorganized arrangement of the proteins in light-harvesting complexes is the key to their extreme efficiency.
3Q: Exploring the universe’s “first light”
After the James Webb Space Telescope’s first year in service, astronomers are awash in new observations that illuminate the oldest stars and galaxies.
Using reflections to see the world from new points of view
A new computer vision system turns any shiny object into a camera of sorts, enabling an observer to see around corners or beyond obstructions.
Scientists map gusty winds in a far-off neutron star system
The 2D map of this “disk wind” may reveal clues to galaxy formation.