Picsart gold

The late 20th and early 21st century have seen a revolution in the study of light. Far from the old days of seeing things dimly through microscopes, we are now in the position to freeze light, use it to make materials transparent, and watch it spiral around on a gold surface. Watching light do its thing is very difficult. This sounds a bit silly, as we observe the world through the effects of light. But what we actually see is an average effect. Light, shade, colors, and texture all come to us via the intensity of light, provided by lots of individual photons. We are in no position to see the femtosecond flickering of the field that averages to our spectacular view of the world. All the interesting stuff we see is related to the amplitude and phase of the light field, though. And the amplitude of a light wave changes very fast, going through a complete cycle in two to three femtoseconds. The wavefront (phase) also travels very fast, moving around 300 nanometers every femtosecond. … [Read more...] about Putting light in a spin generates a ring of fire on gold film

Audio player loading… Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s beta test dates have been revealed, giving PlayStation fans something to get excited about but leaving Xbox players a little cold. Ahead of its October release date, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will available to play as part of two open beta weekends. According to Activision (opens in new tab) , the preview will let players try out a handful of maps, modes, and weapons, as well as other “innovations and surprises”. Several rewards can also be unlocked, which will carry over to the full game at launch. The first beta test will run from September 18 to September 20, but is only available to PS5 and PS4 players. If you pre-order the game on a PlayStation system, you’ll be able to dip in even earlier, on September 16. Activision has confirmed that you won’t need to have an active PS Plus subscription to take part. The second beta test runs from September 24 to September 26, and is open to … [Read more...] about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 beta dates are disappointing for Xbox players

This week's edition of Science contained over a dozen articles on a subject that sounds deceptively simple: waste. Human societies produce a dizzying variety of waste purely as a byproduct of functioning, from agricultural waste or discarded electronics to excrement. In a world of finite resources and limited fossil fuels, it's obvious that we have to make better use of our waste. But doing so isn't just a challenge; it's dozens of them. Organic waste Take agricultural waste. The edible portions of most plants are generally accompanied by huge amounts of inedible material, primarily in the form of cellulose (a long string of sugars) and lignin (a chemical that links them together). Right now, if this is used at all, it's burned directly as fuel or used for feed. And, right now, efforts directed towards getting more out of it are focused largely on using it for fuel. But one of the reviews notes that, assuming we can, diverting waste to biofuels may not make economic sense. … [Read more...] about One man’s trash: the state of modern waste