Team make 'twisted' light

A SPECIAL type of "super-twisted" light which could be used to test for diseases using tiny blood samples has been created for the first time by scientists in Scotland.

The researchers at the University of Glasgow were able to take a beam of light and twist it like a corkscrew using special polarising filters.

This was then shone onto a specially-shaped piece of gold to create the world's first "super twisting" effect. The light can be used to detect illnesses using tiny samples of blood or other biological material.

It means that rather than taking a large blood sample using a needle, doctors could test blood using a pin prick and a smaller amount of blood.

Until now, the idea of super-twisted light has been just a theory among scientists, before it was created by the team in Glasgow, whose work is reported in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.