Patricia Daukantas

2 weeks ago | optica-opn.org | Patricia Daukantas

Look at a fast-spinning object, and you’re likely to see a blur. This effect may suffice when watching a pinwheel or a figure skater, but it’s completely inadequate for inspecting the performance of a rapidly rotating fan blade in a jet engine—or other devices that lives or property depend on. Researchers in China have developed a single-pixel imaging system that “freezes” a spinning object, delivering clear still pictures of it (Opt. Lett., doi:10.1364/OL.555872 ).

1 month ago | optica-opn.org | Patricia Daukantas

Variable focus lenses allow beam profiles in imaging systems to be varied without replacing the lens or other components. Liquid lenses, often using water, offer many possibilities for such tunable lens systems. However, mechanically adjusted liquid lenses consume a lot of power and wear out quickly, and many nonmechanical approaches, like microfluidic systems, are complex and costly.

1 month ago | optica-opn.org | Patricia Daukantas

Photoluminescent semiconductors haven’t historically played starring roles in mystery novels and true-crime stories, but they may in the future. Researchers in the Netherlands have developed a new method for turning lead-based gunshot residue into light-emitting perovskites (Forensic Sci. Int., doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112415 ).

2 months ago | optica-opn.org | Patricia Daukantas

When humans return to the moon, they will need electrical power for life support, habitat construction, experiments, transportation and other requirements. But boosting heavy glass-based solar panels from Earth to the lunar surface will be expensive, and solar cells based on thin foil eventually degrade in the harsh ultraviolet rays from the sun.

2 months ago | optica-opn.org | Patricia Daukantas

Could noninvasive photoacoustic sensing detect blood glucose levels in diabetic patients without piercing their skin? Researchers in India are building the foundation for future instrumentation that could perform such measurements. The scientists developed a proof-of-concept system that uses near-infrared photoacoustic sensing to correlate optical rotation with concentrations of glucose and other molecules in solution, at depths of several millimeters (Sci. Adv., doi:10.1126/sciadv.ado8012 ).