Light carries information through its direction, polarization, and wavelength, but controlling these properties independently has been difficult. Researchers report a single-layer dielectric metasurface that achieves bidirectional control using a Möbius-inspired polarization-path inversion. The design reorganizes polarization evolution so that light entering from opposite sides experiences different responses. The design enables coordinated control across multiple polarization states, including arbitrary elliptical polarization, and several mid-infrared wavelengths. Experiments demonstrate six independent holographic channels encoded in one planar surface with low inter-channel crosstalk. The work provides a compact, fabrication-compatible approach to multidimensional light control. Devices based on this principle could enable high-density optical communication systems with full-duplex capability, polarization-based encryption, direction-sensitive imaging, and other photonic technologies that demand compact, versatile control of light.

In collaboration with the startup company Cauth AI, faculty and students at Binghamton University, State University of New York have developed My Music My Choice (MMMC), a digital safeguard that empowers artists by protecting their songs from generative AI cloning.

University of Utah engineering researchers develop a steam-powered fix for ‘sulfur poisoning’ in fuel cells, devices that both generate and store electricity. The team’s rhodium-infused anodes could be a solution to unlock fuel-flexible clean energy.

SAN ANTONIO — March 3, 2026 — To meet increasing demands for carbon capture and storage (CCS) services, Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has completed updates to its subsurface safety valve (SSSV) facilities to accommodate testing for CCS applications.

New drug discovery technology developed by the University of Bath (UK) harnesses bacteria to do the hard work of medicinal chemistry by creating drug candidates and testing them inside living cells.

In Physics of Fluids, researchers from Brown University present two related studies about thin film fluid flows in the kitchen: one about the relationship between how long it takes to tip the remaining liquid out of a container and its viscosity, and the other about the ideal time to wait before dumping water out of a wok to minimize rusting — it’s more effective to wait a few minutes to let the water accumulate so there’s more to pour out.

Luna Labs has selected UNC Greensboro (UNCG) chemistry professor Nicholas Oberlies to lead a NASA-funded project exploring whether fungi can be grown into building materials for construction on the moon and Mars. The project will investigate whether certain fungi can be combined with regolith — loose rock and soil found on the surface of the moon and other planets — to create materials that could one day support construction in places other than Earth.