Submission + - Near-to-far field magnification (arxivblog.com)
KentuckyFC writes: "There was a time when magnifying glasses were good for nothing but frying ants and helping the over-60s with newsprint. But scientists at Purdue University have designed a lens that can magnify a near field image that is smaller than the wavelength of light, in to a potentially visible one (pdf). That could suddenly make it possible to see some very, very small things."