When it comes to taking decent pictures in very low light (or in the dark, for that matter), what makes it difficult is reflection. Because some of the light that is present reflects off of the glass on the camera lens before it can get to the film or sensor, less light is available for the picture than there is in the picture setting. Scientists at Institute of Physical and Chemical Research in Japan have come up with a conceptual design that would solve this problem.

The new material is a prism of an engineered material made up of nano-coils of precious metals, like gold or silver within a solid glass-like material. The design allows it to have a negative refractive index, so it is truly transparent to light (That would also make it mostly invisible).

If and when this material makes it out of the concept stage and into reality, it would have uses beyond cameras, too. It could be used in fiber-optics to decrease loss, and it would be handy in telescopes as well.