Comments on: New metamaterial lens focuses radio waves

By: M

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 08:01:05 +0000

What is novel here is the NEGATIVE refractive index, not just the lensing of radio waves. All EM waves follow the same physical laws, the scale and thus the behavior vary according to wavelength. The possibilities of negative refractive index meta-materials are immense. For instance, NRI optical lenses that allow the capture of evanescent light and submicroscopic imaging beyond the diffraction limit. This could offer similar possibilities to the fields of astronomy and communications. And we thought the hubble pictures were cool. The applications I’m most excited about are localized emf stimulation of biological tissue such as the brain.

By: gary

gary — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 15:10:50 +0000

If this device can focus radio waves with extreme precision then perhaps it could be used to improve brain imaging in the sense that if, in the presence of a strong magnetic field, one could stimulate a specific molecular species inside neurons and monitor the subsequent radio emissions then it may be possible to assemble a picture of the concentration of these molecules throughout the brain

By: MikeB

MikeB — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 14:09:32 +0000

Correct fresnel lenses have been around for a very long time. Cool thing … you can make them out of plywood to refract RF at certain frequency ranges.

By: A4i

A4i — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 08:51:50 +0000

Recently there was a demonstration of extremely precise metamaterial optical lens. Semiconductor technology was used and the lens was made by simply engraving silicon substrate. Strangely that lens worked for RF too.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 21:34:41 +0000

And everywhere locally so things don’t have to be shipped thus dramatically reducing end costs not to mention all the design freedom that it expands.

By: Larry Miller

Larry Miller — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 20:51:55 +0000

This isn’t new!

Radar antennas have used this principle since at least the 1980′s.

And Lansing speakers used this idea for audio waves from the 1950′s.

The 3-D printing is new, though.

By: GatorALLin

GatorALLin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 18:07:48 +0000

..I understand this was focusing radio waves and not sound waves…but had me wondering if they could use this same idea to focus other types of waves…. I have a history of kidney stone problems…. passed 13 total and they are no fun. Everyone chimes in with the typical helpful suggestion…”hey can’t you sit in that tub of water and let them blast ‘em with sound waves and break them up….” . The answer so far is No… that tank is reserved for people who have a really huge stones and who can’t pass them naturally. and btw..that tank is $10,000 cost per use and btw it breaks them up “hopefully” into smaller stones you can pass, but not always…so we may have to try this a few times and for those of you who have never pissed out broken glass for a few weeks….its like that only worse.

…anyhow…had to wonder if with the advancements in imaging and conebeams….could they learn to use this to better focus sound or other waves to use to break up things like kidney stones and do it in a way that turned them 100% to micro-sand instead of broken up rocks…?? Hand to think maybe this brings the cost down also…so maybe $1,000 per visit vs. the 10k we somehow charge now… anyhow… love it when new options show up and suddenly have a new/better way to do things like focus waves…

right now the Dr.’s just tell patients like me…. Just wait to see if another stone wants to come out…if they pass naturally, then your just fine… You ask…well how many more stones do I have still to pass? (this takes more than one scan btw…as they don’t want to be held accountable if their count is wrong and they normally don’t bother to look, caring only about the 1 stone you are passing at the moment)… so I have 3 total still to pass… one in the right kidney and 2 in the left… one big one that they think “could be passed, but won’t be fun”. But could never pass and your just fine where you are…. don’t fix what is not broken is the holding theory. Except the reality is that 13 did pass and they are like sitting on a timebomb with no idea when suddenly they want to pass. I spent 13 hours on a flight from Germany to USA and stone decided to pass 15minutes into the flight…. and all pills checked in luggage of course. 13 hours of hell and it did pass 2 days later. That was the 4th worst one…. and won’t go into the other 3, but will tell you one got stuck and they had to go get it….2 months later. Anyhow… would be cool if they could better blast things with waves for medical uses….

Smiles….and apologies for the TMI

By: GatorALLin

GatorALLin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:50:40 +0000

…cool thought…. Yeah these 3d printers open up a lot of very exciting possibilities… can’t wait to see what they can do next. rock on.

By: asiwel

asiwel — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:59:42 +0000

This whole metamaterials area with active “microscopic” elements (at least on the scale of the incident waves) is fascinating for mathematical, scientific, and engineering purposes. From light waves to microwaves to now radio waves to sound waves to seismic waves in the ground and the sea, new “devices” are being reported all the time nowadays. Interesting times we live in.

By: David Thibault

David Thibault — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:18:51 +0000

Might this be the missing piece for beaming microwave energy back to earth from space-based solar panels?

By: Gorden Russell

Gorden Russell — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:11:28 +0000

“To fabricate his design, Ehrenberg utilized 3-D printing, building a lens layer by intricate layer…”

Now imagine what the future will be like when there are 3-D printers on the moon or meeting up with asteroids.