Apple has applied for a patent on “invisible” touch input sensors that can be activated and displayed on demand. These input sensors would remain completely invisible until needed, then appear as if by magic—though the invisibility is really an extension of techniques Apple developed for the unibody MacBook Pros.
As described in Apple’s patent application “Disappearing button or slider,” a touch-based sensor can be embedded underneath the metal frame of a MacBook Pro, illustrated in the areas beneath the keyboard where your palms usually rest. Normally, these sensors would be inactive, but could be activated temporarily to perform some auxiliary function, like controlling iTunes.
To make the sensors “appear” when needed, the area of the MacBook Pro case where the sensors are located would be micro-perforated using lasers in the shape of a button, slider, or even a “click wheel.” LEDs beneath the surface would light up, making the control appear to the user. Apple uses this same micro-perforation for the pulsing sleep light on the MacBook Pro, which appears completely hidden unless lit.
via Apple combines touch, laser etching for “disappearing” input.
A new device that controls light using an array of tiny gold structures coated with carbon nanotubes has been developed by physicists in the UK and Italy. Based on a “photonic metamaterial”, the devices could find use in lasers and optical communications components.
via physicsworld.com.
Dematic has introduced the Lasertrucks+ solution, which combines laser-guided pallet trucks with a voice-directed system to increase picking productivity for case-picking applications.
DEMATIC l LaserTrucks+.
A team of physicists led by a professor at UC San Diego has pinpointed the location of a long lost light reflector left on the lunar surface by the Soviet Union nearly 40 years ago that many scientists had unsuccessfully searched for and never expected would be found.
The French-built laser reflector was sent aboard the unmanned Luna 17 mission, which landed on the moon November 17, 1970, releasing a robotic rover that roamed the lunar surface and carried the missing laser reflector. The Soviet lander and its rover, called Lunokhod 1, were last heard from on September 14, 1971.
“No one had seen the reflector since 1971,” said Tom Murphy, an associate professor of physics at UCSD. He heads a team of scientists engaged in a long-term effort to look for deviations of Einstein’s theory of general relativity by measuring the shape of the lunar orbit to within an accuracy of one millimeter, or about the thickness of a paperclip. This is accomplished by timing the reflections of pulses of laser light from reflectors left on the moon by Apollo astronauts and turning the timing measurement into a distance. Continue Reading »
An SPIE article on ultra-short fiber-grating lasers less than 1cm long for sensing applications.
The gratings were inscribed in the active fiber using a 193nm excimer laser. Because it induces index grating in the fiber core by a two-photon excitation process, it does not require hydrogenation to photosensitize the fiber. This not only avoids laser efficiency degradation, but also simplifies fabrication.
via SPIE Newsroom.
Tekno Bubbles lit with a UV laser and an LED ice cube attached to my fishing pole bounced in the pond.
via Flickr – Photo Sharing!.
May 8th, 2010 issue of Science News has several articles on lasers, since May 16th, the 50th anniversary of the invention of laser is approaching.
1. Inventing the Light Fantastic
The history of the laser: An idea that began with Albert Einstein inspired a race to create a special beam of light that has since infiltrated numerous aspects of everyday life. (p. 18)
2. Lasing Beyond Light
Laser physicists have set their sights on new types of waves — manufacturing beams of sound, creating plasma swells and looking for ripples in spacetime. (p. 28)
3. Laser pioneer reflects on making Einstein’s idea real
Science News reporter Ron Cowen's Q&A with Nobel laureate and laser-technology pioneer Charles Townes. (p. 36)
Recommend to read.
They also published a flash version of timeline of the laser.
Dr. Richard Mildren (now an associate Professor at Macquarie University)’s work on diamond Raman laser was under spotlight in the past two years. See Macquarie University’s recent press release:
Diamond is best known for being a prized gem and the hardest cutting element available, but now thanks to research being carried out at Macquarie University it is also proving to be a super efficient laser material.
Associate Professor Richard Mildren and his colleagues at the Macquarie University Photonics Research Centre discovered it was possible to generate a coherent laser beam from man-made diamond in late 2008. They have now demonstrated diamond lasers with efficiency higher than almost all other materials. Continue Reading »
Physicist Dr. Theodore Maiman created the first-working laser in 1960 while at what was then Hughes Research Laboratories. Now called HRL Laboratories, LLC, it has been named a Physics Historical Site.
via Malibu Times
