Optics in Oceanography: Snapshots from the Field

Technologies from cameras to lidar help researchers study Earth’s marine realm.

by Patricia Daukantas

2018 OSA Awards and Medals

Each year OSA recognizes individuals and teams for their outstanding contributions to science, research, education, industry and society. Congratulations to this year’s recipients of OSA’s prestigious awards and medals.

by Meredith Smith, Kari Apter and Jeanette Gass

Volumetric Displays: Turning 3-D Inside-Out

Screenless displays that provide 3-D images viewable from all directions continue to undergo development on multiple fronts. But can they find a market?

by Daniel Smalley, Ting-Chung Poon, Hongyue Gao, Joshua Kvavle and Kamran Qaderi

Newsroom

Research and Industry News

Camouflage materials from squid skin; holographic data storage; dressing atoms for gain; photonic colors of fossils; 3-D printing lenses, fast; chip-scale spectroscopy; Luminar ramps up; wearable-display growth.

Optics Innovations

Seeing Beyond with TruTag

An incubator spin-out has found a home for its products beyond its initial markets to unleash the full capabilities of hyperspectral imaging.

Conversations

50 Years of Fourier Optics

On the occasion of a classic text’s golden anniversary, four scientists reflect on the significance of the book—and of its author.

Light Touch

Tanagra Theater and the Fishbowl Mermaid

Unraveling two popular 20^th-century optical illusions.

Infographic

Phytoplankton and Climate Change

Phytoplankton are the ocean’s primary producers, basic food source and carbon recycler—even a slight change in their productivity could affect the world’s climate. NASA’s North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES) is collecting data on the complete plankton cycle for a better understanding of its impact on ecosystem change. For more on optics and the health of our oceans, see “Optics in Oceanography.”

OSA Outreach

Reaching Out for Science

Optics and photonics pride shone in two April events that brought the wonder and value of science to the public.

President's Message

Celebrating Accomplishment—and Our Community

Looking Back

30, 20, and 10 Years Ago in OPN

OSA Update

News from the Society

OSA Fellow Member stories; Eggleton appointed director of Sydney Nano; OSA Ambassadors at OSA Leadership Conference; Kathleen Richardson awarded UCF’s Pegasus Professorship; Nergis Mavalvala lights the future; thank you, editors and volunteers.