Jeff Hecht

United States

Science and Technology Writer at Freelance

science and technology writer

Articles

Decades of Discoveries Broadened the Laser Spectrum

3 weeks ago | photonics.com | Jeff Hecht

Visible lasers debuted with just a couple of shades of red. A series of advancements has grown over the years into a cascade, yielding an amazing range of colors to feed innovation. At the dawn of the laser age, any color could be attained from a laser, as long as it was red. Theodore Maiman’s first laser was a ruby rod that emitted pulses at 694 nm, the long end of the visible spectrum.
Optics & Photonics News - May 2025

2 months ago | optica-opn.org | Yijie Shen |Edwin Cartlidge |Jeff Hecht

Feature Articles Topological Light Waves: Skyrmions Can Fly Harnessing an emerging class of structured waves as counterparts of localized topological quasiparticles could revolutionize information technology. by Yijie Shen Squeezing on a Chip Bulk optics gives us light beyond the quantum limit, but integrated photonics promises an extended reach—from biological imaging to quantum computing.
Optics & Photonics News - Early Laser Research Funding

2 months ago | optica-opn.org | Jeff Hecht

Skip To Content Feature Looking back at large, federally funded laser projects half a century later shows the impact of such efforts on the optics industry.
Inside the outlandish, futuristic dreams of the tech bros

2 months ago | newscientist.com | Jeff Hecht

More Everything ForeverAdam Becker (Basic Books On sale 22 April (US); 8 May (UK))With Elon Musk and his minions stomping through Washington government offices like Godzilla in Tokyo, and other tech multi-billionaires having gained US President Donald Trump’s ear, the super-rich are getting super-scary. Science writer Adam Becker shares his disconcerting analysis in He finds would-be rulers of the universe with egos the size of planets…
Oldest and Largest Impact Crater Found on Venus

Nov 6, 2024 | skyandtelescope.org | Jeff Hecht

Scientists have found possibly the oldest and largest crater on Venus — and it’s like none they’ve ever seen on our sister planet. Detailed mapping of one of the oldest terrains on Venus has revealed a giant impact structure of a type never before seen on any terrestrial planet. Oddly, the keys to understanding it came from studying craters on two icy moons of Jupiter. Venus is the least understood of the rocky planets because its thick atmosphere obscuring its surface.
Michael A. Johnson: Preventing optical damage at the National Ignition Facility

Oct 31, 2024 | spie.org | Jeff Hecht

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) was in trouble a dozen years ago. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) wanted the giant laser to show the feasibility of igniting a fusion chain reaction by heating and compressing tiny pellets of hydrogen fuel. The laser had reached the 1.8 megajoules (MJ) lab researchers expected would be needed, but the fusion yield was far short of ignition, the point where the fusion yield exceeded the energy delivered to the fuel pellet.
We’ve Found the Source of Most Meteorites

Oct 21, 2024 | skyandtelescope.org | Jeff Hecht

Scientists have traced 70% of meteorite falls to three collisions that occurred in the asteroid belt within the past 40 million years. At last, we know where most meteorites come from. Two studies published in Nature have traced 70% of meteorite falls to three collisions in the asteroid belt that occurred within the past 40 million years. Previously, scientists had only identified the origins of 6% of meteorite falls: the Moon, Mars, and the asteroid 4 Vesta.
Did a Ring of Rocks and Dust Orbit Earth Before the Dinosaurs Roamed?

Sep 23, 2024 | skyandtelescope.org | Jeff Hecht

A team of scientists thinks a clustering of ancient impact craters points to a temporary ring around Earth hundreds of millions of years ago. Earth's gravity might have snared an asteroid making a very near miss of the planet 466 million years ago. As it shattered its debris went into orbit, giving our planet its own ring that may have lasted millions of years. Astronomers have long thought that Earth was too small to have rings like the giant planets do.
Optics & Photonics News - October 2024

Sep 20, 2024 | optica-opn.org | Edwin Cartlidge |Yuhang Li |Aydogan Ozcan |Jeff Hecht

Feature Articles Lift-Off for Space Lasers Optical technology is set to transform communication from Earth orbit and beyond, although problems on the ground still need ironing out.
Optics & Photonics News - How the Laser Found Problems to Solve

Sep 19, 2024 | optica-opn.org | Jeff Hecht

Hughes scientist Irnee J. D’Haenens, shown with a ruby laser in the early 1960s. D’Haenens famously referred to the first ruby laser—partly in jest—as “a solution looking for a problem.” [HRL Laboratories, courtesy of AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives] While some initially wondered about practical applications for the laser—an invention born out of basic research—within a few decades after its first appearance, it was offering solutions from high-speed printing to crystal-clear music.