Bulletin No. 2, 2012

News in Brief 41 Ultra High-speed Internet on the Horizon Prof. Liu Renbao of the Department of Physics made a key breakthrough towards ultra high-speed optical communication that has potential to speed up the current Internet by 10,000 times. The research findings have been published in Nature . Professor Liu and researchers Ben Zaks and Mark Sherwin at the University of California, Santa Barbara, used free electron lasers to irradiate a semiconductor device, and observed THz frequency comb, i.e., modulation of light at one trillion times per second (Tb/s), which is a key element in future optical communication at Tb/s rate. This new technology has the potential to transfer data 10,000 times faster than copper cables, on which the current Internet is widely based. Breakthrough in Remote Sensing Image Fusion Technology The Precision Remote Sensing Group led by Prof. Huang Bo of the Department of Geography and Resource Management and the Institute of Space and Earth Information Science has developed the world’s first unified remote sensing image fusion technology to generate synthetic imagery with simultaneously high spatial, temporal, spectral, and angular resolution. This technology can capture complex structures and changes in a dynamic, high-density urban environment, contributing to environmental and ecosystem monitoring. Related papers have been published in journals, including IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing . Long-standing Mystery of Human Reproduction Solved A research team led by Prof. Chan Hsiao-chang, director of the Epithelial Cell Biology Research Centre, has discovered the important role of the epithelial Na+ channel in embryo implantation. The findings solve a long-standing mystery surrounding human reproduction and shed new light on the cause of miscarriage and the low success rate of in vitro fertilization (IVF). It also provides a novel method for the diagnosis of infertility and for contraception. The research was published in the July 2012 issue of Nature Medicine . research