BBC: In a paper published this week in Nature, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign describe a camera lens based on the compound eye of an insect. The prototype’s 180 small lenses are placed over photodetectors and stretchable electronics. That complex network is then shaped into a hemisphere and the individual signals stitched together with computer software to give a 160-degree view. The device reportedly has remarkable wide-angle capability and depth of view. The researchers envision a number of uses for such a lens, such as in surveillance devices or endoscopy tools.
The finding that the Saturnian moon may host layers of icy slush instead of a global ocean could change how planetary scientists think about other icy moons as well.
Modeling the shapes of tree branches, neurons, and blood vessels is a thorny problem, but researchers have just discovered that much of the math has already been done.
January 29, 2026 12:52 PM
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