Enlarge Image Bending the rules. Light normally travels in straight lines, but with some clever pre-adjustment, it curves instead. Credit: F. Courvoisier and J. M. Dudley Any physics student knows that light travels in a straight line. But now researchers have shown that light can also travel in a curve, without any external influence. The effect is actually an optical illusion, although the researchers say it could have practical uses such as moving objects with light from afar. It's well known that light bends. When light rays pass from air into water, for instance, they take a sharp turn;...