Yes,
everyone wants an invisibility cloak. Yes, it's been
theorized and in development before. But now, what our friends across the pond have only imagined, scientists at an American university have actually built. A group of brainiacs at Duke University have built a device (based on the Imperial College London theory) that can deflect microwave beams so the beams flow around an object almost as if nothing was there, with not too much distortion (but only in two dimensions). In order to do this, the group built a series of concentric circles made up of "
metamaterials," or "artificial composites that can be made to interact with electromagnetic waves in ways that natural materials cannot reproduce." Don't get too excited yet, as scientists warn that this is merely a "baby step." The next step is to make the cloak work in three dimensions, and make improve the cloak's effectiveness. And even still, we're a long way off from making something completely disappear from visibility, which "would have to simultaneously interact with all of the wavelengths, or colors, that make up light." said David R. Smith, a member of the research squad. Hey Duke team, if you ever need human test subjects, we'd definitely be willing to volunteer.
[Via
The Associated Press]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Chocolate Starfish @ Oct 19th 2006 7:24PM
Ladies' locker room, here I come!
bobby @ Oct 19th 2006 7:27PM
"and make improve the cloak's effectiveness"
Don't you guys grammar-check your posts??
Blake @ Oct 19th 2006 7:47PM
This was in Popular Science two months ago.
Jeff @ Oct 19th 2006 7:54PM
Like someone on Slashdot said, this is the equivelant of saying "I jumped over a box, now I just need to work on my jumping a little and I'll be able to hit the moon."
The technological jump between doing this with a microwave, and doing it with visible light is staggering. Still, this could have plenty of other applications besides Invisibility. And it's a hell of a lot cooler than that guy in Japan who used a webcam and a projector to make himself "invisible." I can't believe how long that one made the rounds.
Joe @ Oct 19th 2006 8:00PM
I don't think this rises to the level of 'gadget' yet ... nice try though.
Crazylink @ Oct 19th 2006 8:40PM
Wow, Duke is like 30 minutes away from where I live.
Chris @ Oct 19th 2006 8:51PM
Same here. Not that it matters in the least.
Alex Padilla @ Oct 19th 2006 8:56PM
Yeah, I read this thing earlier in the day on the wonderful MSNBC. It's awesome, this thing is going to own. I can't believe they're actually making it work. Wonderful, fantastic.
me3 @ Oct 19th 2006 9:17PM
I for one welcome our invisible overlords.
granny down east @ Oct 19th 2006 10:01PM
email me when someone makes a cloaking device that works in four dimensions.
"Mr Scott, two to beam up, yesterday."
Dan @ Oct 20th 2006 1:10AM
Just let me know when I can be the invisible man - especially that one scene, you know what I'm talking about! Yeah baby ;)
Kdmc1 @ Oct 20th 2006 10:25AM
Where can I preorder my thermoptic camoflage
Devar @ Oct 20th 2006 2:03PM
The principle idea behind this reminds me of Magnetic Hydro-dynamics (MHD (or how to break the silence barrier))) but instead applied to radio/electric waves instead of physical ones.
UptownBuddha @ Dec 20th 2006 4:56PM
I think what Devar is trying to say is.... naked chicks are cool.
Brian Laks @ Feb 28th 2007 4:25PM
I agree that this is only the first step. Making it work with visible light will be quite a challenge. But, if you're going up against an army of robots that can only see microwaves, it might do the trick!