A camera smaller than a fingernail can now see what most high-speed cameras miss. Inspired by the eyes of insects, scientists have created a tiny, powerful device that captures fast-moving scenes in ...

About five years ago, a bizarre idea occurred to me. At the time, I was designing complex electronic circuits to mimic a small portion of an insect brain. These circuits would be created on a tiny ...

"We found that when people received a paired image of an arachnid versus another arthropod, they strongly prefer looking at ...

A compass that relies on polarised light can use the sun to tell where magnetic north is, even when it is cloudy. It is based on how some insects navigate and could be used when conventional magnetic ...

Here’s what compound eyes really do — and why flies see you in slow motion. A few centuries ago, scientists believed insects saw thousands of tiny, repeated images — like a kaleidoscope of candle ...

The compound eyes of insects can detect fast-moving objects in parallel and, in low-light conditions, enhance sensitivity by integrating signals over time to determine motion. Inspired by these ...

Most optical instruments use lenses, mirrors or prisms to coax rays of light. This system works all right for microscopes and telescopes but not for the long, flexible probes (gastroscopes and broncho ...

When a man in his mid-50s living in New Delhi, India first noticed some mild irritation in his right eye, he figured it would pass. But after it persisted for ten days, he thought back to an unlucky ...