October 2015

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Hyperspectral Imaging for Safety and Security

Valerie C. Coffey

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.

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Exploring a New “Twilight Zone”: LED Street Lighting and Human Vision

Jeff Hecht

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.

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Ibn al-Haytham: 1,000 Years after the Kitāb al-Manāẓir

Stephen R. Wilk

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.