Laser Imaging System is the World’s Fastest

Even as consumer camera drop in price and rapidly increase in quality, none of them could compare to the system researchers at the University of California in Los Angeles are developing.  They are working on an imaging system that utilizes “supercontinuum laser pulses” to capture incredibly fast moving events such as neuron communication.

The system, dubbed Steam (Serial Time-Encoded Amplified imaging), creates a shutter speed equivalent of half a billionth of a second through a speedy laser pulse and captures 6.1 million images a second. The research team is continuing to work on this project to hone the quality of images of cell structures and hopes to apply the same technology to 3-D imaging.

Check out this video for a simplistic breakdown of the process:

[video via Wired]
[via Engadget]