Photonics for a Better World

Show us your photonics -- that’s what the SPIE Professional magazine staff are asking of photographers around the world. Light, water, camera, action: Indirect light in a darkened aquarium highlights anatomical detail in a tank of swimming jellyfish. (Nikon D40, Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G lens, ISO 1600) Winning photos showing the use of light and light-based technologies in daily life will win cash prizes and cover placement in an issue of SPIE Professional , published by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics . The SPIE International Year of Light 2015 Photo Contest is part of the society's observance of the United Nations-declared International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies in 2015 (IYL2015). IYL2015 is a celebration of the crosscutting discipline of science that has revolutionized medicine, astronomy, and clean energy and opened up international communication via the Internet, and that continues to be central to ...

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 ...

You know that signature file you may have – “Sent from my [fabulous device name here]”? Our CEO here at SPIE, Eugene Arthurs, has one that gives credit where credit is due, to photonics: “Multiple laser processes were used to make this iPad. Many photons worked to bring you this message.” This blog makes the case that photonics can make the world a better place, and who can argue with the convenience and ease that is enabled by these great smartphones and tablets? Yes indeed, there are photons aplenty at work. But the latest column from Mark Morford , creatively infuriating (to some) writer for SFGate, points out that those who get worked up over what’s the latest and greatest, and the absolute best, are just wasting their energy, because tomorrow it will be something else. It’s reminiscent of the legend of the conquering Roman generals, who were accompanied in their victory parades by a slave to whisper a reminder in their ear: “All glory is fleeting.” Because, as Morford...