Scientists create a tornado of light to power lasers, quantum devices

The Blueprint

Light usually travels in straight paths, but what if it was twisted, spun, and behaved like a mini-tornado? Scientists have now made this possible by creating optical vortices—small swirling particles of light in a microscopic system. Until now, generating such complex light systems required multiple setups or complex nanostructures, making it difficult to scale. A … Read more

“You Can Create and Control This Unique World Using Light”: DARPA-Funded Scientists Use Lasers to Create a New Autonomous Environment at Room Temperature

The man stood up

Researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), with support from the US Army Research Office, the National Science Foundation, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the Army Research Office, have announced a successful breakthrough produced by laser light and manipulating a new state of matter called supersolid at room temperature. The research group … Read more