October 2015 Issue
Feature Articles
Hyperspectral Imaging for Safety and Security
Advances in data management and component fabrication have made hyperspectral imaging viable in applications ranging from food inspection to pathogen detection to airport security and more.
by Valerie C. Coffey
Exploring a New “Twilight Zone”: LED Street Lighting and Human Vision
LEDs promise higher efficiency in street lighting. But overcoming the glare and environmental impacts of the most efficient LED bulbs will require some engineering innovations—and venturing into the sometimes surprising territory of vision science at low light levels.
by Jeff Hecht
Ibn al-Haytham: 1,000 Years after the Kitāb al-Manāẓir
Ibn al-Haytham’s seven-volume Book of Optics, published in 1015, greatly influenced the field of optics. However, some aspects of Ibn al-Haytham’s work have also been the subject of controversy for historians of science.
by Stephen R. WilkDepartments and Columns
Scatterings
Headliners and industry updates.
From Concept to Commercialization: Next-Generation Spectroscopy
Tornado Spectral Systems and Hindsight Imaging’s Arsen R. Hajian and Jessica Moreno explain how a hypothesis turned into a technological breakthrough and, finally, a commercial product.
Investigating the Final Frontier with Lasers
Optics & Photonics News asked this year’s Frontiers in Optics/Laser Science (FiO/LS) plenary speakers to tell us more about their research. Interestingly, OSA Fellows Joss Bland-Hawthorn and David Reitze are both astrophysicists, but their work is quite different.
Laser Ignition Systems for Cleaner & Efficient Engines
OSA Member Sreenath Gupta, program chair of the 3rd Laser Ignition Conference (LIC) at Argonne National Laboratory, USA, shared some of the main themes from the meeting with Optics & Photonics News.
Displays Dominate End-Use Applications
Tom Hausken comments on competition in the display market, and how the lighting and solar energy segments may be victims of their own successes.
Finding Your Passion: Transitioning from Academia to Industry
Two scientists who have made the leap from university lab to the private sector share their stories and advice.
![An artist’s rendering of a pulse of circularly polarized light hitting a 2D semiconductor. [Illustration by S. Alvey / University of Michigan]](https://opnmedia.blob.core.windows.net/$web/opn/media/images/articles/2025/0125/departments/202501-cover-web.jpg?ext=.jpg)
