Neuroscience

Measuring brain blood flow and activity with light

A new, noninvasive method for measuring brain blood flow with light has been developed by biomedical engineers and neurologists at the University of California, Davis, and used to detect brain activation. The new method, ...

Medical research

Using light to reprogramme the brain's GPS

Neuroscientists at UCL have used laser beams to "switch on" neurons in mice, providing new insight into the hidden workings of memory and showing how memories underpin the brain's inner GPS system.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Scientists use holographic imaging to detect viruses and antibodies

A team of New York University scientists has developed a method using holographic imaging to detect both viruses and antibodies. The breakthrough has the potential to aid in medical diagnoses and, specifically, those related ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Lasers could speed up coronavirus diagnostics

The most common type of test for the new coronavirus takes several hours and is uncomfortable; samples are obtained by sliding a swab into the nose or throat.

Medical research

Exploring how lipids and cholesterol relate to Alzheimer's

Professor Jing Xu and her students study extremely tiny motor proteins, but their work could make a huge contribution to the growing body of knowledge about Alzheimer's and other diseases that progressively destroy brain ...

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Laser

A laser is a device that emits light (electromagnetic radiation) through a process called stimulated emission. The term laser is an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. Laser light is usually spatially coherent, which means that the light either is emitted in a narrow, low-divergence beam, or can be converted into one with the help of optical components such as lenses. Typically, lasers are thought of as emitting light with a narrow wavelength spectrum ("monochromatic" light). This is not true of all lasers, however: some emit light with a broad spectrum, while others emit light at multiple distinct wavelengths simultaneously. The coherence of typical laser emission is distinctive. Most other light sources emit incoherent light, which has a phase that varies randomly with time and position.

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