A research team led by Shree K. Nayar, T.C. Chang Professor of Computer Science at Columbia Engineering, has invented a prototype video camera that is the first to be fully self-powered—it can produce an image each second, indefinitely, of a well-lit indoor scene. They designed a pixel that can not only measure incident light but also convert the incident light into electric power. The team is presenting its work at the International Conference on Computational Photography at Rice University in Houston, April 24 to 26.

Large synoptic survey telescope passes major milestone.

Problem: In recent years, cell biology has included more emphasis on the study of rapid movement inside live cells: its dynamics, mechanisms, electrochemical signaling and protein transport. To capture these events while avoiding image artifacts, frame rates must be high enough to accurately sample these cellular phenomena. Depending on the event, these rates can range from 20 to several thousand frames per second with exposure times well below 100ms.