Light Fantastic

Shape it, squeeze it, energize it or tie it into knots. Scientists are taking light to new extremes.

Using techniques adapted from astronomy, physicists are finding ways to see through opaque materials such as living tissue.

A year of illumination switches on with a Nature special issue.

To minimize risks, we must learn more about how financial markets operate at ever faster rates, urges Mark Buchanan.

The cosmic microwave background is a faint glow of light left over from the Big Bang. It fills the entire sky and records the Universe's early history. Two independent experts outline what we know about this ancient light, both theoretically and observationally.

Jim Al-Khalili revisits Ibn al-Haytham's hugely influential study on its millennium.

By firing lasers into the sky, Claire Max has transformed the capabilities of current — and future — telescopes.

Vienna demonstration shows that the technology can boost data capacity of laser beams over long distances.

Engineered structures with bizarre optical properties are set to migrate out of the laboratory and into the marketplace.

Researchers make headway in turning photons into fuel.

More than a billion people lack electricity, but now microgrids are powering up rural areas.