The 3DMark DirectX 11 tech demo brings this scene to life with intelligent tessellation and advanced volumetric lighting using real-time light scattering.

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Researchers at the University of Arizona and Nitto Denko Technical used a blend of electrically responsive light-scattering polymers to make a holographic videoconferencing system.

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What is new about Dr Cinzano's research, which is about to be published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, is that he and his colleagues have managed to take account of the effects of back-scattering by clouds and dust in the atmosphere, as well as the effects of the original sources of the light themselves.

ECONOMIST: Going, going, nearly gone