207
submitted 4 months ago by Ninjazzon@infosec.pub to c/technology@lemmy.ml

Scientists have created a blazing-fast scientific camera that shoots images at an encoding rate of 156.3 terahertz (THz) to individual pixels — equivalent to 156.3 trillion frames per second. Dubbed SCARF (swept-coded aperture real-time femtophotography), the research-grade camera could lead to breakthroughs in fields studying micro-events that come and go too quickly for today’s most expensive scientific sensors.

SCARF has successfully captured ultrafast events like absorption in a semiconductor and the demagnetization of a metal alloy. The research could open new frontiers in areas as diverse as shock wave mechanics or developing more effective medicine.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] eran_morad@lemmy.world 52 points 4 months ago
[-] lemmydripzdotz456@lemmy.world 36 points 4 months ago

I was doing some napkin math for how many femtoseconds there are between each frame and how that compares to Planck time but this response does a better job capturing how cool this is.

[-] laserkaspar@lemmy.world 11 points 4 months ago

I'm curious on your calculations nonetheless.

[-] HoratioHufnagel@lemmy.world 13 points 4 months ago

A femtosecond is 10^-15 seconds. Tera Hertz frequency is equivalent to a period length of 10^-12 second, a pikosecond.

So with 156 tera Hertz a frame is around 6.4 femtoseconds.

Planck time is around 10^-43, so still some way to go until we reach the clock speed of our universe :)

Hope I did that right!

[-] Turun@feddit.de 8 points 4 months ago

So, considering the speed of light is approximately 3e8m/s, a frame time of 6.4fs means light can move 1.92 micrometers per frame.

[-] RestrictedAccount@lemmy.world 5 points 4 months ago

If they recorded at that speed for 1 hour and played it back at 1 frame per second, all the time since the Big Bang will have passed before they get through 40 minutes of recording.

[-] Perfide@reddthat.com 7 points 4 months ago

Almost, but not quite. A single second recording played at one fps would take roughly 5 million years to finish, so a 40 minute recording would take 12 billion years to finish at 1 fps. The big bang was 13.8 billion years ago.

[-] some_guy 2 points 4 months ago

I initially thought, "why would we need this," but these two comments helped me readjust. I don't need it but we'll find a use for it.

load more comments (4 replies)
this post was submitted on 27 Mar 2024
207 points (100.0% liked)

Technology

34110 readers
275 users here now

This is the official technology community of Lemmy.ml for all news related to creation and use of technology, and to facilitate civil, meaningful discussion around it.


Ask in DM before posting product reviews or ads. All such posts otherwise are subject to removal.


Rules:

1: All Lemmy rules apply

2: Do not post low effort posts

3: NEVER post naziped*gore stuff

4: Always post article URLs or their archived version URLs as sources, NOT screenshots. Help the blind users.

5: personal rants of Big Tech CEOs like Elon Musk are unwelcome (does not include posts about their companies affecting wide range of people)

6: no advertisement posts unless verified as legitimate and non-exploitative/non-consumerist

7: crypto related posts, unless essential, are disallowed

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS