Adam Sobel, Professor of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics and of Earth and Environmental Sciences, testified before Congress on Thursday, September 26, 2019, as part of the hearing on "Understanding, Forecasting, and Communicating Extreme Weather in a Changing Climate."

"Lens" is the Latin word for lentil. And it is indeed true that the shape of bi-convex lenses—the familiar sort used as magnifying glasses—resembles those leguminous seeds. But that resemblance may soon be a thing of the past. For a group of engineers led by Nanfang Yu, Associate Professor of Applied Physics, has worked out how to make magnifying lenses that are flat, and thinner than a hair.