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We propose a scheme for achieving widefield coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy images with sub-diffraction-limited resolution. This approach adds structured illumination to the widefield CARS configuration [Applied Physics Letters 84, 816 (2004)]. By capturing a number of images at different phases of the standing wave pattern, an image with up to three times the resolution of the original can be constructed. We develop a theoretical treatment of this system and perform numerical simulations for a typical CARS system, which indicate that resolutions around 120 nm are obtainable with the present scheme. As an imaging system, this method combines the advantages of sub-diffraction-limited resolution, endogenous contrast generation, and a wide field of view.

We describe the implementation of quantitative Differential Interference Contrast (DIC) Microscopy using a spatial light modulator (SLM) as a flexible Fourier filter in the optical path. The experimental arrangement allows for the all-electronic acquisition of multiple phase shifted DIC-images at video rates which are analyzed to yield the optical path length variation of the sample. The resolution of the technique is analyzed by retrieving the phase profiles of polystyrene spheres in immersion oil, and the method is then applied for quantitative imaging of biological samples. By reprogramming the diffractive structure displayed at the SLM it is possible to record the whole set of phase shifted DIC images simultaneously in different areas of the same camera chip. This allows for quantitative snap-shot imaging of a sample, which has applications for the investigation of dynamic processes.

We present a study of student learning through the use of virtual reality. A software package is used to introduce concepts of special relativity to students in a game-like environment where users experience the effects of travelling at near light speeds. From this new perspective, space and time are significantly different to that experienced in everyday life. The study explores how students have worked with this environment and how these students have used this experience in their study of special relativity. A mixed method approach has been taken to evaluate the outcomes of separate implementations of the package at two universities. Students found the simulation to be a positive learning experience and described the subject area as being less abstract after its use. Also, students were more capable of correctly answering concept questions relating to special relativity, and a small but measurable improvement was observed in the final exam.

A ground-based tracking camera and co-aligned slit-less spectrograph were used to measure the spectral signature of visible radiation emitted from the Hayabusa capsule as it entered into the Earth's atmosphere in June 2010. Good quality spectra were obtained that showed the presence of radiation from the heat shield of the vehicle and the shock-heated air in front of the vehicle. An analysis of the black body nature of the radiation concluded that the peak average temperature of the surface was about (3100±100) K. ©

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