This is what Prof. Sir John Pendry, a theoretician in the field of compressed matter from Imperial College London, who participated last week in a joint conference for scientists from Great Britain and Israel in the field of nanotechnology held at Tel Aviv University
Strengthening research ties in the nano field between universities in Israel and the UK was the hot topic on the agenda in a variety of events that took place last week at the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology of Tel Aviv University. A delegation of senior researchers from Great Britain came under the auspices of the Science and Innovation Department of the Embassy and the British Council to participate in lectures and brainstorming tours in the field. One of them is Prof. Sir John Pendry, a theoretician in the field of compressed matter from Imperial College London and the developer of the theory behind the ability to observe nanoscale components under a microscope and build materials from them - materials with the desired properties.
In an interview with the Hidan website, Prof. Pendri says that the technology of refracting light will enable optical switching that will significantly speed up the rate of data transmission on the Internet.
This is not Prof. Pandry's first time in Israel, just in the last year he was here three times, one of them was in May 2016 when he received the Dan David Prize in the Future Time Dimension, which was dedicated last year to the field of nanoscience. He shared the award together with two other prominent researchers in the field of nanotechnology, Prof. Paul Elioistos and Prof. Chad Mirki.
Prof. Pandry is responsible for the creation of a new type of materials called metamaterials, which led to the production of lenses that hit the limit of refraction of light and make objects invisible. The field of metamaterials expands the capabilities of materials in the entire electromagnetic spectrum - from visible light to DC fields. The lenses he developed are limited only by manufacturing accuracy and not by wavelength.
Here Prof. Pandry explains that what prevented a more widespread use of nanotechnology and the production of advanced materials was the fact that it was not possible to observe processes on a nanometer scale. "A normal microscope is able to magnify up to half the wavelength of visible light, which is about 300 nanometers. Smaller details cannot be seen. Considering that even the electronic chips we all have in our phones are made of junctions a few nanometers wide, this is an important development."
The explanatory video about Prof. John Pendry's discovery that was screened at the Dan David Award ceremony at Tel Aviv University, May 2016.
The entire field of calculating data and transferring it to the end of the world is today based on electronics. It is true that optical fibers are used to transmit data between continents, but according to him, in order to route the data packets to the right place, it is necessary to transform them from electrons to photons, transmit them through the optical fiber, and then at the point of departure, transform them back into electrons in order to switch them to their destination, among other things, if necessary, to make them optical again .
"The best would be if it were possible to do optical switching, without constantly converting the data between the electronics and the optics. The problem is that the electrons are easy to switch because they communicate with each other, while the photons do not see each other. My idea was to develop a very concentrated beam of light, where the photons would have to feel each other. "
What are the uses of this development?
Prof. Pandry: "First, it will be possible to use this to develop microscopes that are able to see at a much higher resolution than today, and they will be able to be used to test systems on a nanometer scale, for example the organelles of the human cell, or nanometer machines. And of course, the concentrated light could be used to transmit much more data over the existing optical fibers. This will be possible if we can build optical switches, and save these transfers back and forth between the optics and the electronics."
You are famous for inventing the invisibility cloak of the kind used by Harry Potter
Metamaterials are materials whose properties are not defined by their chemical composition but by their structure on the smallest scale, which allows light to bypass the object making it virtually invisible. Indeed, about ten years ago I illustrated the findings of my research regarding the refraction of light, to show an example that anyone in the public could understand.
Anyway, when I started with some simple ideas, I didn't know where the research would go. But it turned out that since then the field has sprouted and it has developed into other fields ranging from acoustic camouflage to protecting buildings against earthquakes. The invisibility cloak itself, does not seem close despite the popularity it gained thanks to the Harry Potter plots.
Do you think scientists should be more involved in explaining science to the public?
"Certainly, for two reasons, first to attract children to study math and science and become the next generation of scientists, but also no less important - the need for the public and decision makers to understand the scientific basis for decision making." However, Prof. Pandry says that science and politics should be separated. If scientists want to become politicians and fight in the political arena, that is something else, but as a body, the scientists should say what the scientific truth is in each field, and not interfere beyond that. "A debate between scientists and climate deniers will not contribute anything."
On the question of whether the fact that the scientists in the UK were against Brexit, and of course the scientists in the US fear the fate of science under Trump, yet the public in both countries thought otherwise, he preferred not to answer, only repeating his previous answer that the scientists should be involved in the explanation of science without involvement in the political debate."
By the way, in a 2013 BBC article about Prof. Pandry, following an important award he received in Great Britain, it was discussed about his practice of going deep into a topic, and after a decade exhausting it and moving on to a new topic. The invisibility cloak will have to wait.
More on the subject on the science website
One response
It is more correct to say "a debate between politicians and scientists who deny the political decisions regarding the climate will not contribute anything".