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Stealth coating based on squid skin could make soldiers invisible to night vision
Telegraph ^ | 9/10/13 | Richard Gray

Posted on 09/21/2013 1:54:51 PM PDT by LibWhacker

Camouflaged clothing that mimics squid skin is being developed to hide soldiers from night vision equipment.

Most camouflage materials used to disguise soldiers and vehicles during the day show up easily when viewed through night vision goggles and infrared cameras.

This is because leaves and other foliage reflect infrared light in a different way to other fabrics and materials.

However, scientists at the University of California Irvine have created a new “stealth” coating that can change the way it reflects infrared light on command.

The films, which are around 100,000 times thinner than a human hair, can be switched on and off using a chemical signal.

Tests conducted by the researchers have shown that they can make an orange surface blend into green foliage when the coating is activated.

The technology mimics the active camouflage used by squid, where they change the colour and even the texture of their skin to blend into the background.

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Military/Veterans; Science
KEYWORDS: camouflage; invisible; night; nightvisiongoggles; skin; soldiers; squid; stealth; vision
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To: LibWhacker

How would this help in the middle east against IED’s?


21 posted on 09/21/2013 6:26:13 PM PDT by Eaker (Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life. Robert A. Heinlein.)
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To: LibWhacker

We already have invisibility suits for our soldiers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU-xBJCyNhk


22 posted on 09/21/2013 9:15:55 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (IÂ’m not a Republican, I'm a Conservative! Pubbies haven't been conservative since before T.R.)
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To: Sherman Logan

Also...

Just how durable would such a thin skin be? Whoever thinks an ultra think coating on anything is going to last any longer than a soldier or Marine infantryman sets foot into either a training event or a battle AO hasn’t ever been an infantryman.


23 posted on 09/22/2013 1:33:17 AM PDT by Grimmy (equivocation is but the first step along the road to capitulation)
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To: Grimmy

I especially liked the notion of activating the stealth field by spraying yourself with vinegar. No way that could be detected by anybody you’re trying to sneak up on!


24 posted on 09/22/2013 5:26:17 AM PDT by Sherman Logan (Mark Steyn: "In the Middle East, the enemy of our enemy is also our enemy.")
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