Winning Innovation

Karen A. Newman, Group Publisher, karen.newman@photonics.com

It is late January as I write this, and we are just days away from announcing the winners of the 2014 Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation, including awards directly related to biophotonics. The Prism Awards are presented jointly by SPIE and Photonics Media at an event held annually during Photonics West. By the time you receive this issue, the winners will be posted at the official Prism Awards site, www.photonicsprismaward.com. There also will be a list of the bio-related winners in the March issue of BioPhotonics, and you can find complete details at Photonics.com.

And speaking of Photonics.com, be sure to spend some time exploring the new features and other great changes made during the recent site redesign. The site is still your No. 1 resource for research and business news, videos, white papers, the Photonics Dictionary Plus and the Photonics Buyers’ Guide online – only new and improved! Here are some of the ways we changed the site to give you an even better experience:

Speed: The old site just didn’t move fast enough for the way busy people work today. Our Web experts looked at the database structure as a possible reason for that and totally rebuilt it. Just look at it go now!

Cleanliness: We’re not talking about hand sanitizer and antibacterial soap here, just a new interface design that lets you see all the good stuff you’re looking for without working too hard to find it.

Organization: From anywhere on the site, you can find several ways to navigate to your next location of interest. The Photonics Media publications bar at the top of the page offers a quick way to navigate the main sections and all of our publications, while never losing track of where you are.

I am excited to point out the new pages dedicated to all who are engaged in bringing light to the life sciences. The pages are easily accessible from the main menu bar or directly at Biophotonics.com, where you will find the most recent biophotonics research, industry and product news, plus relevant features, videos and more. Watch the site for a few more engaging developments.

In addition, the search function has been improved, allowing you to search the entire site, or to filter by item type, publication, relevance or most recently posted items. The video gallery has been streamlined so you can see more content at a glance; our entire webinar archive is available for your perusal; and if you’re looking at a new product, there is a form for requesting information directly from the vendor. Check it out.

In our cover story, we have a report on bringing multicolor imaging to two-photon microscopy. The feature article, “Simplified Approach Makes Two-Photon Multicolor Imaging Less Costly,” discusses an approach that combines a fixed-wavelength laser with a nondescanned hyperspectral detection system, used with triple-stained samples with all dyes excited simultaneously. Read the article, beginning on page 20.

Enjoy the issue. I invite your comments at karen.newman@photonics.com.