Light Science Society

Applications for an IDL Micro Grant are due one month from today! SPIE IDL Micro Grants support local community events and activities that highlight the critical role that light plays in our daily lives in celebration of the International Day of Light on May 16.

Grants available up to $3,000 USD. Learn more and apply soon: http://bit.ly/2QbZJt6

It is always interesting when science concurs with your favorite hobby

Kirigami-inspired technique manipulates light at the nanoscale Folding and cutting thin metal films could enable microchip-based 3-D optical devices.

"Get in the field! Things happen because you are passionate about making them happen. This particular field is such a melting pot. You can come at it from physics and mathematics. You can come at it from biological scientists point of view. You can start from almost anywhere and find that your expertise is applicable and at the same time you have a lot of other specialties to learn about."

"It take a lot of practice. It is like a piano. You have to play. You have to get in and actually do it. And you not gonna learn it right away. You just have to keep trying. And.. the thing about this field is it does actually works so you get that positive reinforcement; you do something and it doesn't work the first time. You do it again and it works. You get a little positive kick from that and you do the next thing.."

"..Find great mentors to work with. I think that the business is apprenticeship and you learn by doing and you learn by working with great people. And I think that there is a tendency to spend too much time to think about what exact market and what exact technology will be the best fit. But at the end of the day, I think the most important thing is to find the right team to work with and the right mentors to work with. "

"If you don't have passion for what you're doing, no amount of intelligence can make up for it."

Some of the great advises to anyone who is interested in pursuing a career in science.

Advice for students interested in optics and photonics SPIE asked leaders in the optics and photonics community to give some advice to students interested in the field. Astronomers, professors, CEOs, a Nobel Priz...

A Columbia University research team has developed a noninvasive technique for permanent vision correction.

It uses a low-powered ultrafast laser to crosslink corneal tissues and change the refractive power of eyes.

Read more on OPN: ow.ly/MwBH30koe9H

Novel Silicon Laser Sounds Like a Good Idea for Photonic Integrated Circuits A laser that combines light and sound and thought incompatible with silicon offers another step towards photonic ICs

Don't be a conference troll: a guide to asking good questions Presenting a paper is scary enough for most academics – there’s no need to make things worse by trying to catch them out

Happy Monday! Today, we received a question about the effects of light pollution. The question comes from a high school student in Massachusetts:

"I was wondering if the effects light pollution have on the environment and solar systems are permanent and if not, how can we fix them? What can we do to prevent/stop light pollution? Is there another light source we can use? How do you suggest I begin to tackle this issue here in my town?"

These are great questions, and we are hoping our community can help provide answers/ resources for this student.

If you have responses or resources, please share them in the comments below!

Researchers devise new way to make light interact with matter A new way of enhancing the interactions between light and matter, developed by researchers at MIT and Israel's Technion, could someday lead to more efficient solar cells that collect a wider range of light wavelengths, and new kinds of lasers and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that could have fully tu...

Atomically thin nanowires convert heat to electricity more efficiently Waste heat can be converted to electricity more efficiently using one-dimensional nanoscale materials as thin as an atom – ushering a new way of generating sustainable energy – thanks to new research by the University of Warwick.

Evidence found of magnetism at the edges of graphene A team of researchers from the U.K., Germany and Russia has found evidence of magnetism at the edges of graphene. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the researchers describe how they made their discovery and why they believe it is important.

Nanoscientists at University have developed a blueprint to fabricate new heterostructures from different types of 2-D materials. http://ow.ly/pUIS30kgoyL

A new journal from

FIRST LOOK🎉The Optical Society is excited to launch OSA CONTINUUM; a brand new journal featuring broad and . The first issue of OSA Continuum to publish in September 2018.

will be a gold and publish research articles meeting OSA's standards for technical accuracy, scientific rigor, and presentation standards rather than a judgment of impact or significance.

Learn more about this new addition to OSA Publishing http://ow.ly/zipp30kg7Sy