3+ hour, 1+ min ago  (74+ words) This artist's impression shows lasers involved in direct-drive fusion magnetizing a plasma. [Image: Kyle Palmer / PPPL Communications Department] The researchers used two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations to follow the expansion of the plasma created by firing intense laser pulses from all sides…...

3+ mon, 6+ day ago  (68+ words) Optics & Photonics News Naturally focused undulations on the back of a glass disk are illuminated by an LED and focused onto the translucent front as a network of caustics, exhibiting the geometries predicted by singularity theory. ' "Sculpture by glass artist…...

3+ mon, 1+ week ago  (210+ words) : A light-driven fabrication process enabled this croissant-shaped microstructure to be assembled from microparticles of silica. [Image: Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems] To assemble the structure, a femtosecond laser is used to heat a small area close to the opening…...