Earth gravity bends light to boost remote sensing
Australian physicist Enbang Li has built a compact, three‑foot device that uses gravity to bend light via spiraled fiber-optic coils, detecting tiny picosecond time delays to sense gravitational changes. The approach could enable high‑precision gravity sensing for mapping underground features, monitoring magma, and improving sensing on moving platforms like planes and submarines. While still in early lab stages, the work suggests photons can interact with Earth’s gravitational field in new ways and may prompt fresh thinking about light’s behavior, with findings published in Scientific Reports.
