light
Latest about light
![an octopus closeup shown in glowing bluish light](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Axj6J8D6yquJJnpEk9Pzx9-320-80.jpg)
Octopuses can 'see' light with their arms
By Cameron Duke published
Octopuses can "see" light with their arms, even when their eyes are in the dark, researchers have found.
![Photographs of museum specimens in ultraviolet light revealed the platypus's secret glow.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/J29hZbBGEePokbrTdRYCEi-320-80.jpg)
Platypuses glow an eerie blue-green under UV light
By Mindy Weisberger published
Scientists have discovered that platypus fur glows under ultraviolet light, in the first example of biofluorescence in egg-laying mammals.
![A particle of light, called a photon (yellow arrow), produces electron waves out of an electron cloud (grey) of a hydrogen molecule (red: nucleus). The result of those interactions is what’s called an interference pattern (violet-white). The interference pattern is slightly skewed to the right, allowing researchers to calculate the time for the photon to get from one atom to the next.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/4fxzf9KjJHC9q4qkf9ywVT-320-80.jpg)
Meet the zeptosecond, the shortest unit of time ever measured
By Stephanie Pappas published
Scientists have measured the shortest unit of time ever, the time it takes for a particle of light to cross a hydrogen molecule.
![The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has revealed an extremely powerful magnetic field, beyond anything previously detected in the core of a galaxy, very close to the event horizon of a supermassive black hole.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/iMCWuVfh59Lxhv3Q9tBLZh-320-80.jpg)
Black hole bends escaping light 'like a boomerang'
By Mindy Weisberger published
Light behaves even more strangely than expected around the irresistible pull of a black hole.
![Arctic Fires](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/UbbrcDuuFBzm7CLCKgN3fC-320-80.jpg)
So Much of the Arctic Is on Fire, You Can See It From Space
By Laura Geggel published
Wildfires burning large swaths of Russia are generating so much smoke, they're visible from space, new images from NASA's Earth Observatory reveal.
![Einstein, relativity, speed of light](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/rYUN9j8ZFyHbFeqDVCPkH5-320-80.jpg)
What Is Relativity?
By Michael Schirber published
Albert Einstein was famous for many things, but his greatest brainchild is the theory of relativity. It forever changed our understanding of space and time.
![Motorcyclist on highway](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/m9D5M5c4wWZDhkWgvNKbcW-320-80.jpg)
Lightning Strikes and Kills Motorcyclist. Why Rubber Tires Didn't Protect Him.
By Laura Geggel published
Here's why a motorcycle's rubber tires didn't protect the rider when lightning struck.
![A TV on in a bedroom](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/yzLDFEuyBTZwyNwGynV96B-320-80.jpg)
Keeping Your TV on at Night May Lead to Weight Gain
By Rachael Rettner published
Exposure to light at night — from the glare of a bedroom TV or a street light through a window — may increase the risk of weight gain and obesity in women.
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