January 2023 Issue
Feature Articles
Two Breakthroughs That Revolutionized Optics
The joint history of lasers and fiber optics illustrates the many interconnected steps through which truly revolutionary breakthroughs unfold.
by Jeff HechtDepartments and Columns
Also in this Issue
30, 20, and 10 Years Ago in OPN
Elsa Garmire; anthrax attacks; NASA’s rover Curiosity.
Theodor W. Hänsch prize / Optica Fellow stories / Optica Foundation Challenge winners / Optica community / Quantum Industry Summit / Blatt and Li honored / Remembering Lee, Nussenzveig and Sheridan / Alain Rousset named Advocate of Optics / VinFuture prize for Payne / LGBTSTEM day / Thank you, volunteers and editors
Protostar from the Webb Telescope
The protostar within the dark cloud L1527, shown in this image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), is embedded within a cloud of material feeding its growth.

![Manual probe system with needles for test of semiconductor on silicon wafer. [A. Morozov / Getty]](https://opnmedia.blob.core.windows.net/$web/opn/media/images/articles/2025/1125/departments/202511-cover-web.jpg?ext=.jpg)
![Researcher Clara Saraceno in the lab. [Image by Carsten Behler Photography]](https://opnmedia.blob.core.windows.net/$web/opn/media/images/articles/2025/1025/departments/202510-cover-web.jpg?ext=.jpg)