Blog post: swansont: Crystal Clear … Almost

When light passes through a turbid medium, the photons scatter off the inhomogeneities. If the source is incoherent, like an ordinary incandescent or fluorescent bulb, this results in a blurry image—if any image can be formed at all. If the light is coherent, such as a laser, scattering results is a speckled pattern. In either case, a clear view of the original object may not be possible. This spells doom for medical imaging, astronomy, and other applications. (The authors also suggested it gets in the way of peering through shower curtains. We at Ars condone such voyeuristic pursuits for consenting scientific partners only).