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June 2014

Image of a Bombyx mori caterpillar spinning silk on the surface of a gold mirror. The “silkworms” spin nearly 1 km of silk in a “figure 8” pattern (visible on the surface of the mirror) to form their cocoons. Photo by Fiorenzo Omenetto.

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Silk: A Different Kind of “Fiber Optics”

Matthew B. Applegate, Mark A. Brenckle, Benedetto Marelli, Hu Tao, David L. Kaplan and Fiorenzo G. Omenetto

Like a moth emerging from a cocoon, silk-based devices—optically versatile and friendly to biological systems—are poised to take flight in a range of new, innovative applications.

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Imaging in 3-D: Killer Apps Coming Soon to a Device Near You!

Valerie C. Coffey

As researchers and developers finesse the next generation of gaming consoles and devices, everything is coming up 3-D, and consumers are “virtually” salivating.

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Planetary Radar Imaging and RF-Over-Fiber

Kam Y. Lau and George F. Lutes

Over the past three decades, NASA ground-based radar tracking stations and spaceborne missions have achieved spectacular successes imaging distant planets and Earth’s surface. RF-over-fiber has constituted a crucial component tying the systems together.