“Optocapacitance” Shines New Light on the Brain
A novel twist on the young field of optogenetics may provide a new way to study living human brains as well as offering innovative therapeutic uses.
"optics"
![Ray Guns Near Crossroads to the Battlefield [Slide Show]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/D00C7B6A-8441-4C58-9B5B169AD8BDAA86_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
Ray Guns Near Crossroads to the Battlefield [Slide Show]
The Pentagon ramps up efforts to field directed-energy beam weapons for land, air and sea
![10 Telescopes That Changed Our View of the Universe [Slide Show]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/7EC1378C-F927-4CCB-AF81A1ED09B0303F_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
10 Telescopes That Changed Our View of the Universe [Slide Show]
Historic telescopes through the ages, from Galileo to the 21st century
![Tunnel Vision: Subterranean Park to Stay Sunny with Fiber-Optic Skylights [Slide Show]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/3C5E909B-1119-4918-8BC829AE59A7B5EA_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
Tunnel Vision: Subterranean Park to Stay Sunny with Fiber-Optic Skylights [Slide Show]
The proposed "Lowline" in New York City would transform an abandoned belowground trolley depot into a recreational public space complete with lush flora
What Dictionaries and Optical Illusions Say About Our Brains
Cognitive scientist Mark Changizi does not bother with how the brain accomplishes a task, but rather why it performs the function in the first place.
Tools of the Battlefield, 1916
Reported in Scientific American, this Week in World War I: December 2, 1916
The Current Biology of the Dress
This week the first wave of research from scientific journals has begun to be published; Current Biology has posted a trio of papers by three different prominent competing color vision labs, each describing their initial studies of The Dress. So in celebration of the scientific enterprise and its surprise boost from the world of fashion: here is a summary of those first three studies for reading pleasure.
![New Microscope Enables Real-Time 3-D Movies of Developing Embryos [Slide Show]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/5912FFA5-6AE2-48C3-9C8BAC136B780BCD_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
New Microscope Enables Real-Time 3-D Movies of Developing Embryos [Slide Show]
A European lab combines "light sheet" microscopy with an illumination process that subtracts the static caused by scattered photons to devise a way to clearly observe the inner workings of cells over a period of days
![A Look inside NASA's Next X-Ray Observatory [Slide Show]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/F488D4DB-2866-4877-A9344D2ADD518551_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
A Look inside NASA's Next X-Ray Observatory [Slide Show]
The NuSTAR satellite will be the first space telescope capable of focusing high-energy x-rays into high-quality imagery--a feat that requires some incredibly intricate optics
Illuminating the Lilliputian: 10 Bioscapes Photo Contest Winners Revealed
A gallery of images captured by light microscopy reveals the high art of the natural world
Breaking Network Logjams
An approach called network coding could dramatically enhance the efficiency and reliability of communications networks. At its core is the strange notion that transmitting evidence about messages can be more useful than conveying the messages themselves
Space Wars - Coming to the Sky Near You?
A recent shift in U.S. military strategy and provocative actions by china threaten to ignite a new arms race in space. But would placing weapons in space be in anyone's national interest?
![Fiber-Optic Event Horizon Mimics Black Hole [Slideshow]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/411D0BC7-3E36-4029-84D4BC8D3A632EDB_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
Fiber-Optic Event Horizon Mimics Black Hole [Slideshow]
Researchers hope to detect faint radiation emanating from a new laboratory version of a black hole event horizon
Not Just Pretty, Perseid Meteors Hold Key to Clear View of the Heavens
The Perseids meteor shower, which peaks August 11-12, isn’t just a dazzling celestial show. The annual event also supplies our atmosphere with an essential ingredient for groundbreaking astronomical research.
Art as Visual Research: 12 Examples of Kinetic Illusions in Op Art
Art and neuroscience combine in creating fascinating examples of illusory motion