Kyle M. Douglass
@kmdouglass.bsky.social
Researcher in Optics and Biophysics @ EPFL | Fluorescence and Label-Free Single Molecule Imaging | Numerical Methods and Simulation
https://kylemdouglass.com
https://kylemdouglass.com
When X-rays are incident upon a crystal, some of their energy is reflected from the lattice planes. Certain angles of incidence will lead to the observation of diffraction peaks due to constructive interference between the reflected wavefronts.
#optics #microscopy
youtu.be/FZ4gilAe7x0
#optics #microscopy
youtu.be/FZ4gilAe7x0
The Bragg Condition
YouTube video by Kyle Douglass
youtu.be
November 18, 2025 at 2:11 PM
When X-rays are incident upon a crystal, some of their energy is reflected from the lattice planes. Certain angles of incidence will lead to the observation of diffraction peaks due to constructive interference between the reflected wavefronts.
#optics #microscopy
youtu.be/FZ4gilAe7x0
#optics #microscopy
youtu.be/FZ4gilAe7x0
The construction of the support of the 3D aperture (a.k.a. the optical transfer function or OTF) using the Ewald sphere in a brightfield microscope under partially coherent illumination.
#optics #microscopy
#optics #microscopy
October 20, 2025 at 8:50 AM
The construction of the support of the 3D aperture (a.k.a. the optical transfer function or OTF) using the Ewald sphere in a brightfield microscope under partially coherent illumination.
#optics #microscopy
#optics #microscopy
How to use the Ewald Sphere to determine the support of the 3D aperture of a brightfield microscope under coherent illumination.
#optics #microscopy
#optics #microscopy
October 14, 2025 at 1:23 PM
How to use the Ewald Sphere to determine the support of the 3D aperture of a brightfield microscope under coherent illumination.
#optics #microscopy
#optics #microscopy
Object models for image formation theory in brightfield microscopes.
kylemdouglass.com/posts/image-...
kylemdouglass.com/posts/image-...
Image Formation in Brightfield Microscopy: Part 1 - Object Models
I describe how objects are treated in image formation models for brightfield microscopy.
kylemdouglass.com
October 9, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Object models for image formation theory in brightfield microscopes.
kylemdouglass.com/posts/image-...
kylemdouglass.com/posts/image-...
I spent the morning playing with GeoGebra for the first time and, along the way, published an app about aligning a laser beam to an axis in space defined by two irises using two rotating mirrors.
There's a learning curve, but it's not too bad.
#optics
www.geogebra.org/m/tfrykp7y
There's a learning curve, but it's not too bad.
#optics
www.geogebra.org/m/tfrykp7y
Alignment with Two Mirrors
Aligning a laser beam to an axis in space using two mirrors.
www.geogebra.org
October 3, 2025 at 11:56 AM
I spent the morning playing with GeoGebra for the first time and, along the way, published an app about aligning a laser beam to an axis in space defined by two irises using two rotating mirrors.
There's a learning curve, but it's not too bad.
#optics
www.geogebra.org/m/tfrykp7y
There's a learning curve, but it's not too bad.
#optics
www.geogebra.org/m/tfrykp7y
Check out my dope new fixed focal length lens.
September 25, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Check out my dope new fixed focal length lens.
It's kind of nuts that most of the cost of kinematic #optics mounts usually covers the alignment phase of a setup, after which the mount serves the same role as an unmovable piece of stock metal.
September 23, 2025 at 10:09 AM
It's kind of nuts that most of the cost of kinematic #optics mounts usually covers the alignment phase of a setup, after which the mount serves the same role as an unmovable piece of stock metal.
Trying to get a sense of how much current I can pass through salt water and happened to observe electrolysis by accident.
September 14, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Trying to get a sense of how much current I can pass through salt water and happened to observe electrolysis by accident.
The more I learn about floating point arithmetic, the more I am impressed that scientists can get anything done at all on a computer.
August 12, 2025 at 7:08 PM
The more I learn about floating point arithmetic, the more I am impressed that scientists can get anything done at all on a computer.
This week I wrote a small Python library for computing vector EM fields in the focal region of high NA objectives.
github.com/LEB-EPFL/jus...
I'd be pleased if would try it out and leave any feedback or bugs in the issue tracker. :)
github.com/LEB-EPFL/jus...
I'd be pleased if would try it out and leave any feedback or bugs in the issue tracker. :)
GitHub - LEB-EPFL/just-focus: Vector electromagnetic field calculations in the focus of high NA microscope objectives.
Vector electromagnetic field calculations in the focus of high NA microscope objectives. - LEB-EPFL/just-focus
github.com
August 6, 2025 at 11:57 AM
This week I wrote a small Python library for computing vector EM fields in the focal region of high NA objectives.
github.com/LEB-EPFL/jus...
I'd be pleased if would try it out and leave any feedback or bugs in the issue tracker. :)
github.com/LEB-EPFL/jus...
I'd be pleased if would try it out and leave any feedback or bugs in the issue tracker. :)
> So Lemkin's attempts to communicate with the AI model... were fundamentally misguides.
Maybe the real, lasting value in LLMs is that they have brought fundamental questions about cognition from scientific specialty to the working lives of everyday people.
arstechnica.com/information-...
Maybe the real, lasting value in LLMs is that they have brought fundamental questions about cognition from scientific specialty to the working lives of everyday people.
arstechnica.com/information-...
Two major AI coding tools wiped out user data after making cascading mistakes
“I have failed you completely and catastrophically,” wrote Gemini.
arstechnica.com
July 30, 2025 at 7:53 PM
> So Lemkin's attempts to communicate with the AI model... were fundamentally misguides.
Maybe the real, lasting value in LLMs is that they have brought fundamental questions about cognition from scientific specialty to the working lives of everyday people.
arstechnica.com/information-...
Maybe the real, lasting value in LLMs is that they have brought fundamental questions about cognition from scientific specialty to the working lives of everyday people.
arstechnica.com/information-...
I've resorted to printing out code and checking it by hand just to validate AI slop. #thefutureisnow
July 8, 2025 at 7:26 AM
I've resorted to printing out code and checking it by hand just to validate AI slop. #thefutureisnow
Can anyone recommend a service where I upload 3D models of simple machine parts and they mail me the CNC'ed results? Something like Osh Park that does small batches but for machine parts?
I feel like I saw something about this recently but can't remember which platform I saw it on.
I feel like I saw something about this recently but can't remember which platform I saw it on.
July 7, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Can anyone recommend a service where I upload 3D models of simple machine parts and they mail me the CNC'ed results? Something like Osh Park that does small batches but for machine parts?
I feel like I saw something about this recently but can't remember which platform I saw it on.
I feel like I saw something about this recently but can't remember which platform I saw it on.
Here's a short post about converting the surface sag of a class of common optical surfaces into the normal form of a quadric.
The trick is to use a method from high school #math that doesn't get as much attention as, say, the quadratic equation or the FOIL method.
kylemdouglass.com/posts/comple...
The trick is to use a method from high school #math that doesn't get as much attention as, say, the quadratic equation or the FOIL method.
kylemdouglass.com/posts/comple...
Completing the Square and the Normal Form of Quadrics
I explain how to convert the expression for the sag of an optical surface into the normal form of a quadric equation.
kylemdouglass.com
July 7, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Here's a short post about converting the surface sag of a class of common optical surfaces into the normal form of a quadric.
The trick is to use a method from high school #math that doesn't get as much attention as, say, the quadratic equation or the FOIL method.
kylemdouglass.com/posts/comple...
The trick is to use a method from high school #math that doesn't get as much attention as, say, the quadratic equation or the FOIL method.
kylemdouglass.com/posts/comple...
You know you're f***ed when the Wikipedia article on the problem you're working on only exists in one language and it isn't English.
de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umrissk...
de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umrissk...
Umrisskonstruktion – Wikipedia
de.m.wikipedia.org
July 4, 2025 at 5:44 PM
You know you're f***ed when the Wikipedia article on the problem you're working on only exists in one language and it isn't English.
de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umrissk...
de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umrissk...
I'm brushing up on my computational #geometry skills and found this great resource for surface representations: "Representing Smooth Surfaces" by Ken Takusagawa
Fun fact: surface sag in #optics is just an explicit surface representation.
groups.csail.mit.edu/graphics/cla...
Fun fact: surface sag in #optics is just an explicit surface representation.
groups.csail.mit.edu/graphics/cla...
Representing Smooth Surfaces
groups.csail.mit.edu
June 25, 2025 at 12:46 PM
I'm brushing up on my computational #geometry skills and found this great resource for surface representations: "Representing Smooth Surfaces" by Ken Takusagawa
Fun fact: surface sag in #optics is just an explicit surface representation.
groups.csail.mit.edu/graphics/cla...
Fun fact: surface sag in #optics is just an explicit surface representation.
groups.csail.mit.edu/graphics/cla...
I realized recently that I have always taken for granted the fact that camera read noise is Gaussian, but I never questioned why this is.
The answer, I think, is due to the central limit theorem.
#optics #imaging
kylemdouglass.com/posts/why-is...
The answer, I think, is due to the central limit theorem.
#optics #imaging
kylemdouglass.com/posts/why-is...
Why is Camera Read Noise Gaussian Distributed?
I investigate why camera read noise may be modeled as a Gaussian random variable.
kylemdouglass.com
June 23, 2025 at 6:44 AM
I realized recently that I have always taken for granted the fact that camera read noise is Gaussian, but I never questioned why this is.
The answer, I think, is due to the central limit theorem.
#optics #imaging
kylemdouglass.com/posts/why-is...
The answer, I think, is due to the central limit theorem.
#optics #imaging
kylemdouglass.com/posts/why-is...
Reposted by Kyle M. Douglass
This month's Henry Poincare Webinar Series on Optical Polarization and Related Phenomena will be led by Aristide Dogariu! 💡
Join us on 24 June for this presentation on light polarization and the statistical properties of the electric field vector.⚡
Register here: spie-org.zoom.us/web...
Join us on 24 June for this presentation on light polarization and the statistical properties of the electric field vector.⚡
Register here: spie-org.zoom.us/web...
June 17, 2025 at 5:46 PM
This month's Henry Poincare Webinar Series on Optical Polarization and Related Phenomena will be led by Aristide Dogariu! 💡
Join us on 24 June for this presentation on light polarization and the statistical properties of the electric field vector.⚡
Register here: spie-org.zoom.us/web...
Join us on 24 June for this presentation on light polarization and the statistical properties of the electric field vector.⚡
Register here: spie-org.zoom.us/web...
I did a deep dive into the mathematics for 3D optical system design software, focusing on ways that we can make layouts more intuitive. I hope you find it as interesting as I did in writing it.
#optics
kylemdouglass.com/posts/3d-seq...
#optics
kylemdouglass.com/posts/3d-seq...
3D Sequential Optical System Layouts
I describe the geometry involved for laying out sequential optical systems in 3D.
kylemdouglass.com
June 5, 2025 at 9:32 AM
I did a deep dive into the mathematics for 3D optical system design software, focusing on ways that we can make layouts more intuitive. I hope you find it as interesting as I did in writing it.
#optics
kylemdouglass.com/posts/3d-seq...
#optics
kylemdouglass.com/posts/3d-seq...
Sometimes you come across a site and you just have to instantly bookmark it.
Mathjax examples for easy copying and pasting: easy-copy-mathjax.nakaken88.com/en/matrix/
Mathjax examples for easy copying and pasting: easy-copy-mathjax.nakaken88.com/en/matrix/
Matrix | Easy Copy Mathjax
easy-copy-mathjax.nakaken88.com
May 30, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Sometimes you come across a site and you just have to instantly bookmark it.
Mathjax examples for easy copying and pasting: easy-copy-mathjax.nakaken88.com/en/matrix/
Mathjax examples for easy copying and pasting: easy-copy-mathjax.nakaken88.com/en/matrix/
Claude, you cheeky little troublemaker.
May 28, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Claude, you cheeky little troublemaker.
One piece of advice I have for people living in Switzerland is to always stay grounded.
May 26, 2025 at 7:54 AM
One piece of advice I have for people living in Switzerland is to always stay grounded.
I just added reflective surfaces to my ray tracer project and a concave mirror example. I had to choose a slightly unconventional sign notation to get the paraxial ray trace algos to work, but all the examples match what I calculated by hand.
kmdouglass.github.io/cherry
kmdouglass.github.io/cherry
May 17, 2025 at 10:08 AM
I just added reflective surfaces to my ray tracer project and a concave mirror example. I had to choose a slightly unconventional sign notation to get the paraxial ray trace algos to work, but all the examples match what I calculated by hand.
kmdouglass.github.io/cherry
kmdouglass.github.io/cherry