Whereas the political world is still preoccupied with the security lapses in Washington, another team of scientists has pulled off an amazing feat that almost seems to belong to science fiction rather than a lab. Scientists from Warsaw University and Pascal CNRS Institute have developed a technique that produces “light tornados,” which are nothing but tiny vortices of light energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On April 24, 2026, it was announced that this breakthrough has deviated from the conventional and expensive techniques of controlling light on the nanoscale level. Rather than employing the sophisticated and delicate technology of nanotech, the researchers applied a phenomenon of natural formation called torons. The process involves creating a trap for light in order to place it in its most stable position with the least amount of energy, while at the same time causing it to spin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prof. Jacek Szczytko explained that the idea was sparked by the concept of atomic physics. Through the analogy between photons and electrons, the researchers were able to “trap” light to rotate as a cyclone-like vortex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The possibilities of \u201coptical tornadoes\u201d reach much farther than simply the exciting prospect of spinning light. Since such vortex rings can be produced in a controlled and scalable manner, they have opened up an immense world of opportunity for quantum communications technology. Conventional fiber-optic communication channels operate in a rather straightforward manner, but spinning light allows for an increase in data capacity per photon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By combining different levels of twisting, scientists could achieve a multiplier effect in terms of the data flow capacity of existing worldwide data highways. Additionally, this discovery could provide a means to produce miniature sources of light that can be used on computer circuit boards, thus paving the way for computing that relies on photons rather than electrons for data transmission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Besides serving as a new means of communication, researchers have started to consider the potential use of these spinning lights as \u201coptical tweezers\u201d that help biologists move cells and bacteria around without physically contacting them. The rotation created by the optical vortex holds microscopic particles with significantly greater stability than regular lasers do, paving the way for highly precise genetic modification and creation of tiny devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the scientific world grapples with these latest discoveries, attention has quickly turned to applying them in industry. Since the device itself is based on liquid crystals, widely used in electronics today, its implementation might prove quicker than expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Optical tornado is one such technology that has marked a critical juncture in the field of photonics. This technology has shown that no matter how difficult the problem in physics may seem, there is always a way to solve it through self-organisation and elegance. The era of quantum computing and super fast data seems imminent in the future, and controlling light in a tornado might well be the solution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Whereas the political world is still preoccupied with the security lapses in Washington, another team of scientists has pulled off an amazing feat that almost seems to belong to science fiction rather than a lab. Scientists from Warsaw University and Pascal CNRS Institute have developed a technique that produces “light tornados,” which are nothing but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":908,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sb_editor_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-technology"],"relative_dates":{"created":"1 day ago","modified":"1 day ago"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejournalistic.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejournalistic.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejournalistic.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalistic.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalistic.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=907"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalistic.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":909,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalistic.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907\/revisions\/909"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalistic.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejournalistic.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalistic.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalistic.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}