Monday, September 12, 2011

A Guiding Light for New Directions in Energy Production: Optofluidics Could Help Solve the Energy Challenge

ScienceDaily (Sep. 11, 2011) — The science of light and liquids has been intimately entwined since Léon Foucault discovered the speed of light in 1862, when he observed that light travels more slowly in water than in air. This physical harmony between the two materials is now being harnessed to collect and drive light to where it can be the most useful. October's issue of Nature Photonicsfocuses on optofluidics, the study of microfluidics -- the microscopic delivery of fluids through extremely small channels or tubes -- combined with optics. In a review written by Demetri Psaltis, Dean of EPFL's School of Engineering, he and his co-authors argue that optofluidics is poised to take on one of this century's most important challenges: energy.
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