Top: petals of Ursinia speciosa, a daisy, contain a dark pigment that appears blue due to 'disordered' striations. Bottom: close-up top and side view of microscopic striations.

Petals produce a 'blue halo' that helps bees find flowers

18 October 2017

New study finds 鈥渕essy鈥 microscopic structures on petals of some flowers manipulate light to produce a blue colour effect that is easily seen by bee pollinators. Researchers say these petal grooves evolved independently multiple times across flowering plants, but produce the same result: a floral halo of blue-to-ultraviolet light.

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An image from an experiment in the quantum optics laboratory in Cambridge. Laser light was used to excite individual tiny, artificially constructed atoms known as quantum dots, to create 鈥渟queezed鈥 single photons

Scientists "squeeze" light one particle at a time

01 September 2015

A team of scientists have measured a bizarre effect in quantum physics, in which individual particles of light are said to have been 鈥渟queezed鈥 鈥 an achievement which at least one textbook had written off as hopeless.

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Trapping the light fantastic

16 June 2014

探花直播development of a 鈥榥anobarrel鈥 that traps and concentrates light onto single molecules could be used as a low-cost and reliable diagnostic test.

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library light

Libraries and light

01 May 2010

Research in the Department of Architecture aims to reveal the creative potential of light in the design of contemporary libraries.

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