Posted on 06/26/2009 7:53:36 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
Borrowing from the physics of invisibility cloaks could make it possible to hide buildings from the devastating effects of earthquakes, say physicists in France and the UK.
The "earthquake cloak" idea comes from the team led by Stefan Enoch at the Fresnel Institute in Marseille, France. They were the first to show that the physics of invisibility cloaks could have other applications – designing a cloak that could render objects "invisible" to destructive storm waves or tsunamis.
The seismic waves of an earthquake fall into two main groups: body waves that propagate through the Earth, and surface waves that travel only across the surface.
Although Enoch's team have calculated that controlling body waves would be too complex, controlling surface waves is within the ability of conventional engineering, they say. Fortunately, it is surface waves that are more destructive, says team member Sebastien Guenneau at the University of Liverpool in the UK. Tuned rings
The new theoretical cloak comprises a number of large, concentric rings made of plastic fixed to the Earth's surface. The stiffness and elasticity of the rings must be precisely controlled to ensure that any surface waves pass smoothly into the material, rather than reflecting or scattering at the material's surface.
When waves travel through the cloak they are compressed into tiny fluctuations in pressure and density that travel along the fastest path available. By tuning the cloak's properties, that path can be made to be an arc that directs surface waves away from an area inside the cloak. When the waves exit the cloak, they return to their previous, larger size.
Unlike some of the optical invisibility cloaks that have been studied in physics labs in recent years, the new cloak is "broadband", meaning that it can divert waves across a range of frequencies.
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
I guess it’s that physics principle: If it can stop a phaser and the resulting damage, then it will stop the damage as a result of an earthquake.
Might need to see this application first hand.
Must be from the same people that developed the FACT of global warming!
Bunk and B.S.
If the earthquake doesn’t see you.....
Why not produce the opposite wave to cancel the oncoming one? Oh, wait, you’d have to see it coming. The earth cloaks those using linear time so you can’t see them until they get there. Sorry.
Where were these things when I was trying to hide from Big Bertha on the playground?
Brought to you by the folks that created Mr. Peabody and the Way Back Machine ...
Sound can be “cancelled out” in real time, using the same principles. It’s even been put to such mundane uses as automotive mufflers.
So, why not?
Where do I send my “cloak” tax check. I have 2 bucks left, somebody should get them.
At the expense of mail delivery.
Maybe we could build rings big enough to encompass the whole country and then tune them to the illegal alien frequency.
;’)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.