Photonics for a Better World

For as much as sensing technology is already enhancing our lives, the future promises even more. Take that smartphone, for example. Currently, it contains several very useful sensors. But, noted Tim Day , CEO/CTO of Daylight Solutions during a session on “The Future of Sensing” at the recent SPIE DSS event in Baltimore , by 2020, it’s easy to envision hundreds of sensors on such a device. Demands for personal fitness monitoring and personalized medicine are big drivers, Day said. Today’s sensors can tell us a lot. For example: How quickly did I go from jog to sprint today compared to yesterday? How close am I to my destination? What is that constellation? But we want to know much more: blood sugar levels, temperature, blood pressure, air quality, and on and on. And we will be able to, via wearables (see Scientific American on that topic) and other technology using photonics. Thermal images captured with Opgal's smartphone attachment can be presented in ...

In the face of recent comments by lawmakers and others in the public eye suggesting that accepting scientific evidence is akin to the decision to believe in a particular religion or political dogma, NPR commentator Adam Frank has suggested a clarifying solution. Congress, he said in a Cosmos & Culture post on 11 December , should consider making a pledge to science -- not to wholesale acceptance of all published research, but simply to “uphold the integrity of basic scientific research and take no actions to undermine the broadest public education in empirically verifiable scientific truths."  Volunteers from SPIE are among hundreds of scientists and engineers who visit Congressional offices every year to stress the contributions of STEM research to society and the economy. His underlying point that science and technology are “the engines of our economic competitiveness” echoes the words of leaders of 120 science, engineering, and STEM education organizat...