Broadband imaging in the near-infrared using a single meta-lens, showing the ability of the lens in correcting chromatic aberrations, and manufacturing of meta-lenses using planar fabrication techniques similar to those used in the integrated circuits industry.

Ever wonder how lightsabers work? Watch how plasma physics make these signature Star Wars weapons possible -- in every color of the rainbow.

The wings of Lepidoptera contain a matrix of living cells whose functioning requires appropriate temperatures. However, given their small thermal capacity, wings can overheat rapidly in the sun. Here we analyze butterfly wings across a wide range of simulated environmental conditions, and find that regions containing living cells are maintained at cooler temperatures in a manner that is largely unaffected by visible color patterns. Diverse scale nanostructures and non-uniform cuticle thicknesses create a heterogeneous distribution of radiative cooling that selectively reduces the temperature of living structures such as wing veins and androconial organs.

If the processes powering the fusion reactor at the Sun's core could be recreated on Earth, it would be one of the most important events in the history of our species. Nuclear fusion power plants could end our dependency on fossil fuels and provide a virtually limitless, highly efficient source of clean energy. We went to two of the world's leading nuclear fusion research centers—Sandia National Labs in New Mexico and General Fusion outside Vancouver—to see how close we are to bringing the power of the stars down to Earth. Check out CNET's channel for more: http://bit.ly/2gpeXdr Subscribe to MOTHERBOARD: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-To-MOTHERBOARD Follow MOTHERBOARD Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/motherboardtv Twitter: http://twitter.com/motherboard Tumblr: http://motherboardtv.tumblr.com/ Instagram: http://instagram.com/motherboardtv More videos from the VICE network: https://www.fb.com/vicevideo

Read the full interview in Columbia Engineering magazine. After almost a decade of long-distance collaborations, Keren Bergman, Michal Lipson, and Alex Gaeta are working together in one place, here at Columbia Engineering. Lipson and Gaeta joined the School this summer as the Eugene Higgins Professor in Electrical Engineering (EE) and the David M. Rickey Professor of Applied Physics and of Materials Science, respectively. And now, together with Bergman, who is the Charles Batchelor Professor and EE chair, the trio is set to break new ground in nanophotonics, or, as Lipson, a preeminent leader in nanophotonic fabrication, puts it, “optics on a very, very small scale.”

Latha Venkataraman, Assistant Professor of Applied Physics at Columbia Engineering School, discusses her recent research measuring current transport across single molecules.

Raymond Mindlin. Frontiers of Engineering Science / Frontiers of Molecular Engineering Jeffrey Kysar, Professor of Mechanical Engineering Latha Venkataraman, Associate Professor of Applied Physics