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We see light and colours around us every day. However, to analyse the information it carries, we must analyse light using spectrometers, in the lab. These.

In this field, spectrometers and light-detectors are already key components of imaging and diagnostic systems – the new miniaturised devices could enable the simultaneous visualisation and detection of ‘chemical fingerprints’, leading to possibilities in the biomedical area. Among the most promising applications for miniaturised spectrometers are chemical and biochemical analysis, thanks to the capabilities of the devices to detect light in the infrared wavelength range. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our [main website](https://www.cam.ac.uk/) under its [Terms and conditions](https://www.cam.ac.uk/about-this-site/terms-and-conditions), and on a [range of channels including social media](https://www.cam.ac.uk/about-this-site/connect-with-us) that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms. This example, they say, is just the first of many. Spectrometers are used for toxin detection in food and cosmetics, cancer imaging, and in spacecraft – including the James Webb Space Telescope. It could open up the future for the next generation of smartphone cameras that evolve into hyperspectral cameras that conventional colour cameras cannot do. The detector uses van der Waals heterostructures – a ‘sandwich’ of different ingredients, including graphene, molybdenum disulfide, and tungsten diselenide. “The current design is just a proof-of-concept. However, to analyse the information it carries, we must analyse light using spectrometers, in the lab. This spectrometer-on-chip technology is expected to offer high performance and new usability across science and industry. The result is an all-in-one spectrometer thousands of times smaller than current commercial systems. In other words, these new spectrometers will provide portable alternatives to uncover otherwise invisible information, without even going into the lab.

On a sunny Berlin afternoon, at a lido next to the river Spree, sisters Sara and Yusra Mardini are joking around with Manal and Nathalie Issa, the actors ...

Later that year, she was listed by Time as one of “The 30 Most Influential Teens of 2016”. In 2016 she competed in Rio de Janeiro, part of the Games’ first Refugee Olympic Team, winning one of her heats in butterfly. On a sunny Berlin afternoon, at a lido next to the river Spree, sisters Sara and Yusra Mardini are joking around with Manal and Nathalie Issa, the actors (also sisters) who will portray the refugees turned Olympic swimmer and campaigner in this winter’s The Swimmers.