Posted on 07/19/2009 9:08:54 PM PDT by JoeProBono
It would have many uses including military applications, radar tracking: A universal mirror, an object that reflects all light waves back at their source, has been created by scientists in Europe and Asia. Imagine a tennis player hitting a ball against a wall. The ball would bounce right back to the player no matter what angle he or she directed the shot.
A universal mirror has the same effect, except with light waves. Unlike an ordinary mirror, which only reflects objects at 90 degrees, a universal mirror reflects objects back at any angle. In other words, a person positioned in front of a large, optical universal mirror would see his or her own reflection perfectly no matter where the person stands.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
A ball mirror?
So...if you have two of these babies and you face them to eachother...what happens? Does it go supernova or something?
So, could you like put one on a ceiling?
parsy, who is thinking of engineering applications
Engineer this parsy...
What would happen if you put one on the ceiling AND EVERY WALL? remember, you see your reflection without being normal to the surface!
Try to picture what you would be looking at with those mirrors all around. Can you do it? I’m having a hard time.
I’m trying but I think I momentarily entered another dimension. All mimsy were the boragraves.
parsy, who is thinking of that sci fi story from way back
This is giving me a headache. Seriously. Making my eyes cross and stuff.
parsy, who is getting motion sickness while sitting still
OK.
Here’s my logic...
Since all light is reflected directly back to the origin, then you would only see the light that is leaving the surface of your body. Only that light would leave the mirror and go back to your body. Ok, actually, technically, only the light that is leaving the surface of your eyeball would come back to your eye and be visible by your eye. All other light would go back to where it came from and your eye would never see it. So in the mirrors, you would only see your face. In all of them. There would not be a duplicating effect as in a regular room of mirrors where you see yourself over and over to infinity. That wouldn’t happen because there is no angle effect. The angle of the mirror makes no differrence. THe light goes back to the source regardless of the angle of incedence.
Now, the tricky part.
You will only see your face in the mirrors. But how many faces? I’m thinking one huge distorted face. Like if you were inside a perfect sphere with the interior being one perfect spherical mirror...mirror side facing in.
But, here’s the kicker...I think your entire body would be invisible except for your own two eyeballs.
...or light particles...
All you see is your eyesballs....now cross your eyes!
I think you would see your whole body, even the backside, because every beam would bounce off the portion of the mirror across the room, on the ceiling, and floor. But flattened out like a map of the world.
parsy, who is freaking himself out
Sensual mirrors or sensual actors?
crap.
You just gave me a headache.
You’re starting to worry me, Joe.
What was that Hawking said, “Black holes have hair”
I think you would have fade over at all angles.
parsy, who is dizzy and reeling
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