(May 18, 2015) The
compound eyes found in insects and some sea creatures are marvels of evolution.
There, thousands of lenses work together to provide sophisticated information
without the need for a sophisticated brain. Human artifice can only begin to
approximate these naturally self-assembled structures, and, even then, they
require painstaking manufacturing techniques.
Now, engineers and physicists at the University of
Pennsylvania have shown how liquid crystals can be employed to create compound
lenses similar to those found in nature. Taking advantage of the geometry in
which these liquid crystals like to arrange themselves, the researchers are
able to grow compound lenses with controllable sizes.