Researchers from the University of Illinois have developed a camera that can see polarized light. Called the Mantis Cam, due to the animal’s 16 color receptors and 6 polarization channels, the new cam works by stacking photodiodes on top of each other, which allows for shorter light wavelengths to be absorbed. It will allow the early detection of cancers in humans, and help decode the ways animals communicate underwater.

A paper entitled “Bio-inspired color-polarization imager for real-time in situ imaging” (PDF) about the new camera has been posted in the journal “Optica.”