Night vision - they know how to do it

An exciting potential development in contact lenses - and there are quite a few at the moment with drug release and diabetes monitoring among them - is the idea that they could perhaps be an alternative to night-vision goggles.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed the technology using graphene that could potentially be squeezed down and stacked on a contact lens. This obviously has military potential - cutting down on the bulky goggles, as worn by Navy Seals, that require inbuilt cooling devices - as well as smart phone possibilities.

Apparently the technology (two layers of graphene sheets with a layer of insulation between) has already been scaled down to the size of a small fingernail and researchers describe it as a way of expanding your vision or interacting with your environment. They would certainly be fun to try out on a camping trip, night fishing, or simply finding your way home from a night out.