Invisibility cloak dreams could become reality with light-bending material

telegraph.co.uk ^ | August 10, 2008 | Aislinn Simpson

[Free ThinkerNY]

The creation of the magical technology has been the subject of intense research ever since Victorian author HG Wells captivated readers with his tales of a scientist who becomes invisible after consuming a cocktail of drugs.

Now scientists at the University of California in Berkeley have developed a material that can bend light around three dimensional objects making them "disappear", according to an article on Nature magazine's website.

The research, funded by the American military, paves the way for stealth tanks, aircraft and even warships that can disappear from enemy soldiers' sights.

The technology works like water flowing around a rock. Since light is not absorbed or reflected by the object, the viewer only sees the light from behind it - rendering it invisible.

[Impy]

I’m not big on Star Trek but I love fictional politics. I cannot believe the Federation signed a treaty agreeing not to develop a cloaking device. Damn pinkos.

[BooksForTheRight.com]

Complete invisibility won’t happen. “good enough” cloaking is already a possibility.

[aruanan]

Since light is not absorbed or reflected by the object, the viewer only sees the light from behind it - rendering it invisible.

We really need only the ones effective at microwave or laser wavelengths used by cops in speed traps.

[BenLurkin]

Too late...probably.

[Deinococcus radiodurans]

Actually, negative index of refraction metamaterials operating in the microwave and infrared range have been demonstrated. However, making your car invisible to radar/lidar is another challenge. But negative index of refraction materials also have the ability to reverse the doppler effect, which might be useful for defeating speed traps.

Of course much of what is stated in this article is hyperbole, these materials tend to work on a single wavelength of light or short range of wavelengths of light. dIn other words any object cloaked with these materials would be partially invisible. The material currently transmits wavelength(s) that appear red, so a cloaked object would be translucent red. If light that is not red is shined on it, then the object becomes visible.

Here’s the research in Nature for those so inclined to pay to read it: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature07247.html