Photonic device simulates gravitational lensing predicted by Einstein's   
   general relativity.   
      
   Light-bending chip   
      
   Liu and his collaborators simulated the gravitational lensing of a star on an   
   integrated photonic chip. A layer of clear plastic on the chip acted as a   
   waveguide, confining light to the chip’s surface. To change the index of   
   refraction of the plastic,    
   the researchers had to vary the plastic’s thickness. They did so by heating   
   the plastic and adding polystyrene microspheres before the plastic cooled.   
   Because the plastic rose upwards around the microspheres on cooling, the   
   thickness of the waveguide    
   increased near these miniature balls. The varying index of refraction the team   
   achieved happens to be very similar to the bending of space-time geometry   
   around a massive star.   
      
   http://www.nature.com/news/curved-space-time-on-a-chip-1.13840   
      
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