Now I have the Pink Floyd song in my head: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8pEjmZVx3k
NIST scientists create 'any wavelength' lasers
171–180 of 201 posts
Re: NIST scientists create 'any wavelength' lasers
#172Earlier quoted context omitted.
The whole idea of colour and light frequency is fascinating. These are just frequencies of light, but the subjective experience of them is so much more. And the whole thing of my perception of "red" or what I call "red" could be very different to someone else's subjective perception. But we would both call it red and associate it with the same thing, fire, love, heat, danger etc.
I have thought about this before as well. Like maybe what I see as red you see as purple but since we have always been taught that what we both see is red to both of us it is red. I am however leaning more to the belief that typically we all see colors the same. But it is one of those things that could never be proven. Another interesting thought that comes to mind speaking about color perceptions is I recently read…
Try to visually perceive well outside your field of vision.
Re: NIST scientists create 'any wavelength' lasers
#173Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't think so. Just becoming fluent in multiple languages can result in the perception of more distinct colors. And those fluent in languages that have additional distinct color names can differentiate subtle differences in the shades of colors that non-speakers cannot even differentiate. Color is less about seeing what is actually out there and more about how our brain interprets colors to create "meaning".
> And those fluent in languages that have additional distinct color names can differentiate subtle differences in the shades of colors that non-speakers cannot even differentiate. The ability to label more colors is not the ability to perceive more colors. The ability of your cone cells to recognize a difference in color between two samples is unaffected by language.
I remember back when I thought that perception was this simple.
Re: NIST scientists create 'any wavelength' lasers
#174Re: NIST scientists create 'any wavelength' lasers
#175Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not to mention the wider context of starting off by opening a beautifully designed record sleeve, and the chances people choosing to listening to vinyl are doing so on a beautifully engineered soundsystem that cost as much as a car when it was released 50 years ago, or a turntable setup that's designed for them to interact with.
You could add all of that to CD. Bigger packaging for "audiophile pressings", a play ritual, extra distortion and compression, especially in the low end, limited dynamic ranges, minimal stereo separation, even a little randomness so each listening experiences was slightly different. This is consumer narcissism. It's the driver behind Veblen signalling - the principle that a combination of collecting physical objects.…
You could add the audio distortion. You couldn't add the ability to place it on your DJ turntable or vintage record player (which you might have paid a small fortune for or obtained from Dad or a car boot sale). The CD is also unnecessary to obtain the music anyway.
Tbh freshly pressed vinyl is a significant way down the food chain from new cars, never mind jets and conspicuous consumption fine art, and the demographics that buy it don't necessarily have more disposable income than the demographics with Spotify subscriptions hooked up to a mid range modern soundsystem. If you really want to go full Veblen you can probably buy an NFT to give you all the bragging rights of having signalling money to waste without the inconvenience of actually having anything to look after or listen to :)
Re: NIST scientists create 'any wavelength' lasers
#176Everyone talking about magenta and brown, but you can see an illusory color right now even without lasers! https://dynomight.net/colors/ behold, some kind of hyper-turquoise
This video is another good demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJLncut79vE
Re: NIST scientists create 'any wavelength' lasers
#177> When it comes to information transfer and processing, light can do things that electricity can’t. Photons — particles of light — are far zippier than electrons at working their way through circuits. Electrons themselves don't move at the speed of light, but information transfer (i.e. communication) via electrons does happen close to the speed of light. A subtle, but important, distinction that's often misunderstood…
> but information transfer (i.e. communication) via electrons does happen close to the speed of light
Speed of light in the medium, not speed of light in vacuum.
Re: NIST scientists create 'any wavelength' lasers
#178Just want to remind people that the deBroglie wavelength of light IS its wavelength, here 0.5-1.5 um. This is gigantic compared to that of electrons in semiconductors. So there is no VLSI for optical computation. None. Zero. Bupkis. Lasers, except perhaps for some very esoteric applications, will be confined to the periphery where waveguides and fiber are rapidly supplanting copper. By the way, at least $1B has been wasted by VC’s who did not understand the no-VLSI physics barrier.
Re: NIST scientists create 'any wavelength' lasers
#179Just want to remind people that the deBroglie wavelength of light IS its wavelength, here 0.5-1.5 um. This is gigantic compared to that of electrons in semiconductors. So there is no VLSI for optical computation. None. Zero. Bupkis. Lasers, except perhaps for some very esoteric applications, will be confined to the periphery where waveguides and fiber are rapidly supplanting copper. By the way, at least $1B has been…
I should add that analytical device applications of this technology look almost limitless, being able to simplify, shrink, and cheapen thousands of optical instrumentation types. This is a huge market, and will lead to better healthcare, pharmaceuticals and industrial monitoring. Displays are another area, and military, policing, criminology, another. Having a narrowband laser of your choice of wavelength is the holy grail here.
Re: NIST scientists create 'any wavelength' lasers
#180That picture of the wafer with a rainbow of shapes is very misleading. It suggests that the various colors you see on the chip is the various colors the lasers can emit, which is wrong; it's just diffraction, and has nothing to do with the topic of the article. (But, PR people gotta PR...)
In fact, regular tunable wavelength lasers do work with diffraction gratings. https://www.edmundoptics.com/knowledge-center/application-no...