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Unlike a camera, flies and other animals can tune their eyes to the light levels of different regions of an image independently. In nature, the individual cells of the eye adjust to a part of the image independently in order to capture the maximum amount of information about the scene. By comparison, an ordinary camera measures the average brightness of a scene (or part of it), and then decides on a single setting for the whole frame. So...
2006-08-30
film light technologyEnergy-efficient light bulbs lose on average 22% of their brightness over their lifetime, a study has found.
The trick is to change the speed and direction in which light travels through the material - that is, to change the material's refractive index.
2010-03-18
3D Invisibility light vision slow lightThe 50th anniversary of the first demonstration of a ruby laser at the Hughes Research Labs in the US.
2010-05-12
laser history technology science lightIt is the picture that confirms Japan's Ikaros solar sail is fully extended and ready for the next part of its mission. ... The project team will be particularly concerned to keep the sail fully extended and flat. Rather than employ rigid booms or ribs to do this, Ikaros simply spins, making one or two revolutions per minute.
2010-06-16
sail solar light photon space travel IkarosPlants are able to "remember" and "react" to information contained in light, according to researchers. Plants, scientists say, transmit information about light intensity and quality from leaf to leaf in a very similar way to our own nervous systems. These "electro-chemical signals" are carried by cells that act as "nerves" of the plants.
2010-07-14
memory communication thinking plant intelligence cognition light electricity chemistry signal nervous system colour