Breakthrough see-through research

For those who thought that only Superman could see through concrete walls, think again.

For those who thought that only Superman could see through concrete walls, think again. Researchers at the Imperial College London and the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland, have come up with a technique to see through rubble at earthquake sites — or to look at parts of the body obscured by bone. They created this amazing optical effect in a London lab last week and have published the details in Nature Materials.

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It is based on a new material that exploits the way atoms in matter move, which makes them interact with a laser beam in an unusual manner. Albert Einstein’s theory holds that in order for a laser to work, the light-amplifying material in it — usually a crystal or glass — must be brought to a state where atoms could be excited with enough energy to make them emit rather than absorb light. The latest research focuses on amplifying light by interfering with the wave-patterns of atoms, rather than bringing them to that ‘excited stage’.

When information is sent by sending light pulses along optical fibres, the data itself gets distorted in any attempt to measure it. The new technology offers a safe means of transmitting light signals without disturbing the data.