Optics
Astronomers have discovered an extrasolar planet only three times more massive than our own, the smallest yet observed orbiting a normal star. The star itself is not large, perhaps as little as one twentieth the mass of our Sun, suggesting to the research team that relatively common low-mass stars may present good candidates for hosting Earth-like planets.
The astronomers used a technique called gravitational microlensing (1) to find the planet, a method that can potentially find planets one-tenth the mass of our own.
The gravitational microlensing technique, which came from Einstein's…
The world's first optical pacemaker is described in an article published today in Optics Express. A team of scientists at Osaka University in Japan show that powerful, but very short, laser pulses can help control the beating of heart muscle cells.
"If you put a large amount of laser power through these cells over a very short time period, you get a huge response," says Nicholas Smith, who led the research. The laser pulses cause the release of calcium ions within the cells, Smith explains, and this action forces the cells to contract.
This technique provides a tool for controlling heart…
Eta Carinae has the shape of a 'little man' and surrounds a star doomed to explode within the next 100 000 years.
Being brighter than one million Suns, Eta Carinae is the most luminous star known in the Galaxy. It is the closest example of a luminous blue variable, the last phase in the life of a very massive star before it explodes in a fiery supernova.
Eta Carinae is surrounded by an expanding bipolar cloud of dust and gas known as the Homunculus ('little man' in Latin), which astronomers believe was expelled from the star during a great outburst seen in 1843 [1].
This new image of the…
Humor-
Comics are supposed to be fun, light reading. Something I read on MSNBC’s Comics & Games website has been on my mind for a few months. The column titled "News of the Weird" by Chuck Shepherd (March 30, 2008) had one paragraph that caught my attention.
"A team of researchers from the University of Calgary and the Tokyo Institute of Technology proudly announced in February that they had successfully stored "nothing" inside a puff of gas and then had managed to retrieve that same "nothing." That "nothing," is called a "squeezed vacuum," and the physicists tell us that a light wave can…
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PARIS, April 30 /PRNewswire/ --
- Note: 1st Quarter 2008 Reported and Adjusted Profit and Loss Statement is Enclosed in Annex (lien vers http://www1.alcatel-lucent.com/1q2008/pdf/annex_E.pdf)
Key Highlights for the Quarter
- Revenues of Euro 3.864 billion, up 6.3% year-over-year at Euro/USD constant currency - Adjusted(ii) gross profit of Euro 1.399 billion or 36.2% of revenues - Adjusted(ii) operating income(i) of Euro 36 million or 0.9% of revenues - Adjusted(ii) net loss (group share) of Euro (95) million or Euro (0.04) per diluted share - Reported net loss (group share) of Euro (181)…
University of Utah engineers took an early step toward building superfast computers that run on far-infrared light instead of electricity: They made waveguides -- the equivalent of wires -- that carried and bent this form of light, also known as terahertz radiation, which is the last unexploited portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Electricity is carried through metal wires. Light used for communication is transmitted through fiberoptic cables and split into different colors or “channels” of information using devices called waveguides. In a study published in Optics Express, Ajay Nahata,…
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PARIS, April 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) announced today that Tom Goodwin, Vice-President of Marketing & Communications for Alcatel-Lucent's Optics activities and Etienne Lafougère, President of Alcatel-Lucent's submarine network activity will give a joint media tutorial on Optics on April 8, 2008 at 3.00 PM Paris time (9 AM New York time).
Tom Goodwin will discuss the network transformation trend taking place in the transport space whereby operators are implementing 40 Gbit/s technology as an intermediate step to 100 Gbit/s and are moving to hybrid…
Newswire |
PARIS, April 3 /PRNewswire/ --
- 29% Yearly Growth Confirms Leadership for the Seventh Year in a row
Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) further reinforces its optical networking leadership by consolidating its #1 position with a 24% market share for the full year 2007, according to Ovum RHK.
"Alcatel-Lucent exceeded our expectation of their performance in optical networking for 2007, breaking the 'law of big numbers' to outstrip the growth of the market for the year by registering a 29% growth versus the 24% of the market as a whole," said Dana Cooperson, Vice President of the…
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CHARENTON-LE-PONT, France, March 6 /PRNewswire/ --
- Another Year of Solid Performance
The Board of Directors of Essilor International, the world leader in ophthalmic optical products, today announced its audited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2007.
EUR millions 2007 2006(2) Change Revenue 2,908.1 2,690.0 + 8.1% Contribution from operations(1) 527.4 482.6 + 9.3% As a % of revenue 18.1% 17.9% --- Operating profit 504.6 460.5 + 9.6% Profit attributable to equity 366.7 328.7 + 11.6% holders 12.6% 12.2% --- As a % of revenue Earnings per share (in EUR) 1.78 1.61(3…
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PARIS, February 27 /PRNewswire/ --
- New Optical Transmission With Capacity x Distance Product Record at 41.8 Petabit/s.km, and Three New Photonic Integrated Circuits
Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext and NYSE: ALU) today announced, in four post deadline papers accepted at the OFC/NFOEC conference in San Diego, California, new optical networking milestones, including a new optical transmission record and three novel new photonic integrated circuits.
In a post deadline paper, Bell Labs researchers in its Villarceaux, France center, in partnership with Alcatel-Thales' III-V Lab and the optical…