In 2005, Isaac Freund, an Israeli physicist, had this astounding idea. He predicted that, under certain conditions, light could be twisted into the shape of a one-sided mobius strip. In other words, he claimed that elliptical polarization of light could produce light which would conform to geometrical shapes and dimensions previously only seen in math textbooks and works of art designed to trick your mind. If you don’t recall what a mobius strip looks like, here’s one to jog your memory:
In 2010, Freund proposed an experiment to test his hypothesis. And now an experiment conducted by German scientists at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light has proven that Freund’s theories about polarized light were correct:
“Light can kind of turn one-sided and single-edged under certain conditions,” says Peter Banzer of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in Erlangen, Germany. […]
Banzer’s team scattered two polarised green laser beams off a gold bead that was smaller than the wavelength of the light. The resulting inference introduced a polarisation pattern with either three or five twists, giving it a Möbius-like structure.
One of the practical applications that may come out of this result would be the use of polarized light “to trap tiny particles for biomedical purposes.”
So congrats to the Israeli and German scientists for furthering our basic understanding of how light works and for paving the way for further studies that may benefit humankind. Good job, people.
Once upon a time, this sort of ground-breaking research might have been conducted at an American university or science institute, but we live in a country where one political party can unilaterally determine whether to fund government funds into basic research into many scientific field, from biology, medicine, climate and physics, among others. That same party has consistently opposed spending on essential scientific research as well as funding for critical medical research by the NIH and the emergency response funding for the CDC. In general, Republicans have promoted illegitimate junk science, attacked scientists because their research did not conform to the GOP’s political agenda, and they even promote weakening our kids’ education by requiring the teaching religious dogma as legitimate science.
The Republicans have made it a point of pride to declare themselves scientifically illiterate, even to the point of advancing politicians, men with little respect or understanding of scientific principles and practices, to chair powerful committees where they have the capability to do great harm to our nation’s future.
Indeed, they have already taken steps to prohibit government agencies tasked with performing scientific assessments from seeking the advice of experts in the fields relevant to that task.
Among a few other quietly nefarious measures the House has passed since being sworn in was this: H.R. 1422, the Science Advisory Board Reform Act. Sponsored by former Mormon missionary Chris Stewart (R-UT, naturally), this act would effectively lobotomize the EPA’s frontal lobe by keeping the people who know what they’re talking about and have published papers on it from sitting on the SAB. It states in par that:
“Board members may not participate in advisory activities that directly or indirectly involve review or evaluation of their own work.”
Which isn’t to say that people with degrees can’t advise the EPA…as long as those people with degrees never actually studied the environment. For instance, a geologist could advise them on atmospheric carbon. A chemical engineer could advise them on the impact of logging on California beavers. A person with a degree in business management and economics could advise them on effective industry regulatory strategies.
Too bad. Once we led the world in scientific advances. The way things are going, however, we will soon be just another backward banana republic with atom bombs and missiles, but little else to provide for our security, jobs and a sustainable future. In short, we will become a country not that different in kind from North Korea, except our leaders will belong to a different cult of personality: The Cult of Republican Jesus.
