polarization information tagged posts

Diagrammatic comparison of our bioinspired high-dynamic-range polarization camera with its biological counterpart, the mantis shrimp ommatidium.

New camera mimics mantis shrimp vision to significantly improve dynamic range and add polarization information. Inspired by the visual system of the mantis shrimp – among the most complex found in nature – researchers have created a new type of camera that could greatly improve the ability of cars to spot hazards in challenging imaging conditions.

The new camera accomplishes this feat by detecting a property of light known as polarization and featuring a dynamic range about 10,000 times higher than today’s commercial cameras. Dynamic range is a measure of the brightest and darkest areas a camera can capture simultaneously...

Magnetic field lines (purple) are twisted as they are dragged inward toward a swirling, dusty disk surrounding a young star in this artist’s conception. CREDIT: Bill Saxton, NRAO/AUI/NSF.

Using new images with unprecedented detail, scientists have found material rotating around a very young protostar probably has dragged in and twisted magnetic fields from the larger area surrounding the star. The discovery, made with the Very Large Array VLA) radio telescope, has important implications for how dusty disks – the raw material for planet formation – grow around young stars.

The scientists studied a young protostar 750 light-years from Earth in constellation Perseus...