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    "story_id": "mp-2026-07-13-011",
    "source_story_id": "tmp-story-poisson-spot-optical-skyrmions",
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    "headline": "A Two-Century-Old Shadow Makes Four Light Knots",
    "slug": "a-two-century-old-shadow-makes-four-light-knots",
    "dek": "NTU Singapore generated four kinds of optical skyrmion in one Poisson spot using a laser and a small circular disc instead of a fabricated metamaterial.",
    "summary": "NTU Singapore generated four kinds of optical skyrmion in one Poisson spot using a laser and a small circular disc instead of a fabricated metamaterial.",
    "body_text": "Nanyang Technological University researchers report that a classic diffraction effect can generate optical skyrmions, stable topological patterns in the properties of light. Shining a laser around a circular obstruction produced spin, Stokes, electric-field, and magnetic-field skyrmions within one Poisson spot. The Optica result offers a simpler research platform than engineered metamaterials. Proposed uses in storage, communications, and computing remain prospective; the demonstrated advance is accessible generation and comparison of the light structures.",
    "why_it_matters": "NTU Singapore generated four kinds of optical skyrmion in one Poisson spot using a laser and a small circular disc instead of a fabricated metamaterial.",
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      "Proposed uses in storage, communications, and computing remain prospective; the demonstrated advance is accessible generation and comparison of the light structures."
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    "first_published_at": "2026-07-13T09:00:00.000-04:00",
    "modified_at": "2026-07-13T13:08:06.310-04:00",
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        "text": "NTU Singapore generated four kinds of optical skyrmion in one Poisson spot using a laser and a small circular disc instead of a fabricated metamaterial.",
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        "qualification": "Proposed uses in storage, communications, and computing remain prospective; the demonstrated advance is accessible generation and comparison of the light structures."
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    "tags": [
      "optics",
      "skyrmions",
      "Poisson spot",
      "photonics"
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  "sources": [
    {
      "source_id": "source-2026-07-13-011",
      "title": "ScienceDaily from Nanyang Technological University",
      "publisher": "ScienceDaily",
      "url": "https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260713000755.htm",
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    "title": "A Two-Century-Old Shadow Makes Four Light Knots",
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