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Unit C: Light and Optical Systems

Do you see a face in that electric socket? (michaeljmc, iStockPhoto)

Facial Recognition and the Brain

STEM Explained

Learn how your brain recognizes faces and why you sometimes see them in places they don’t exist!

Nicole Brisson à un site minier

Nicole Brisson

Career Profiles

Water and Tailings Engineer

Nicole Brisson is a Water and Tailings Engineer for Agnico Eagle Mines Limited.
The Jodrell Bank Lovell Telescope located in Cheshire, England

Telescopes and Astronomy

Backgrounders

Visible light is only part of what astronomers study. They use different types of telescopes to study the entire electromagnetic spectrum.

Labo de Heather McFarlane's

Heather E. McFarlane

Career Profiles

Assistant Professor & Canada Research Chair in Plant Cell Biology

Heather R. McFarlane is an Assistant Professor & Canada Research Chair in Plant Cell Biology for the University of Toronto.
Serina Hall

Serina Hall

Career Profiles

Mechanical Designer

Serina Hall is a Mechanical Designer for Infinity Solutions.
Mahadeo Sukhai

Mahadeo Sukhai

Vice President of Research & International Affairs and Chief Accessibility Officer

Mahadeo Sukhai is the Vice President of Research & International Affairs and Chief Accessibility Officer for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB).
Skyglow from a city and highway

Light Pollution

STEM Explained

Light can be a type of pollution. Learn about the damage it causes to people and living things as well as how you can prevent it.

Anne Simonen au travail

Anne Simonen

Career Profiles

Civil Engineering Technologist

Anne Simonen is a Civil Engineering Technologist for Kerr Wood Leidal Associates Ltd..
Martina Bona

Martina Bona

Career Profiles

Process Discipline Specialist

Martina Bona is a Process Discipline Specialist for Jacobs Engineering.
Rachel Chow dans un énorme conduit

Rachel Chow

Career Profiles

Wastewater Process Engineer

Casting hot iron

What Causes Hot Things to Glow?

STEM Explained

Getting electrons excited by heat can cause certain materials to give off visible light when heated - like filaments in light bulbs.

Krysten Rutherford

Krysten Rutherford

Career Profiles

PhD Candidate, Oceanography

Krysten Rutherford is a PhD Candidate of Oceanography at Dalhousie University.
Hubble Space Telescope as seen during a servicing mission in 2009

Airborne & Space Telescopes

Backgrounders

Learn about telescopes that do their work high in Earth’s atmosphere and in space.

Abstract light pattern

Light and Its Properties

Backgrounders

Learn about light and its properties.

Large diamond refracting light

Reflection and Refraction

Backgrounders

Learn about reflection and refraction and meet Emily Altiere, a PhD student in physics who studies lasers.