Big data, small lab – Physics World

The Large Hadron Collider at CERN is one of the world's largest scientific instruments. It captures 5 trillion bits of data every second, and the Geneva-based lab employs a dedicated group of experts to manage the flow. In contrast, the instrument shown here – known as a time-stretch quantitative phase imaging microscope – fits on a bench top, and is managed by a team of one. However, it is also capable of capturing an immense amount of data: 0.8 trillion bits per second. These two examples illustrate just how ubiquitous "big data" has become in physics.