MIT’s light-tracking camera

BBC : A new imaging technique called femto-photography captures images at about one trillion frames per second and is even capable of visualizing the movement of light. Ramesh Raskar of MIT and colleagues adapted a streak tube, which is used to take data readings from light pulses, and used a laser pulse as their light source. Streak tubes scan one horizontal line at a time, and hundreds of scans must be taken to create a single frame. Consequently, the technique can capture only those events that can be precisely re-created multiple times. About one hour’s worth of shots are needed to create a video representing less than a second of real time. The team anticipates that the new technique could be used in scientific imaging of ultrafast processes.