Posted on 06/12/2007 1:52:21 AM PDT by neverdem
Increasingly, physicists are constructing materials that bend light the “wrong” way, an optical trick that could lead to sharper-than-ever lenses or maybe even make objects disappear.
Last October, scientists at Duke demonstrated a working cloaking device, hiding whatever was placed inside, although it worked only for microwaves.
In the experiment, a beam of microwave light split in two as it flowed around a specially designed cylinder and then almost seamlessly merged back together on the other side. That meant that an object placed inside the cylinder was effectively invisible. No light waves bounced off the object, and someone looking at it would have seen only what was behind it.
The cloak was not perfect. An alien with microwave vision would not have seen the object, but might have noticed something odd. “You’d see a darkened spot,” said David R. Smith, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Duke. “You’d see some distortion, and you’d see some shadowing, and you would see some reflection.”
A much greater limitation was that this particular cloak worked for just one particular “color,” or wavelength, of microwave light, limiting its usefulness as a hiding place. Making a cloak that works at the much shorter wavelengths of visible light or one that works over a wide range of colors is an even harder, perhaps impossible, task.
Nonetheless, the demonstration showed the newfound ability of scientists to manipulate light through structures they call “metamaterials.”
Obviously the military would be interested in any material that could be used to hide vehicles or other equipment. But such materials could also be useful in new types of microscopes and antennae. So far, scientists have written down the underlying equations, performed computer simulations and conducted some proof-of-principle experiments like the one at Duke. They still need to determine the practical...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
It won’t be long before we’ll be getting tarnhelms for Fathers Day.
I almost didn’t see this post...
I’ve already got a working cloaking device on my car, everytime I go anywhere, I can count on a bunch of ignorant SOBs pulling out in front of me, damn near causing a wreck, and the only possible explanation is that they can’t see me, which means that my cloaking device does NOT have an ‘off’ switch, and that really p*sses me off.
This only proves they are watching us and are among us. If we can develop this technology, the LGM’s have had it for centuries. ———OK, I’m going to go get some more tinfoil now.
If I remember correctly, I think “Invisible” is one of the 10 Stages of Drunkenness.
That’s awesome! Scientific American ran an article on this in November of last year, and now the Times is running with it. They’re only eight months behind the rest of us. That’s not bad for a daily newspaper.
They might even catch up some day!
“An alien with microwave vision”
Reading that phrase makes me think of Rosie O’Donnell and Hot Pockets.
Anybody seen my car keys?
ummm...but I can see it.
Big deal. Refrigerators already comes equipped with these. My kids will stand ther with the door opened and stare at shelf after shelf of food, exclaiming ‘There isn’t ANYTHING to eat!’
Your keys are right here. But I can’t see you!
And I’m told that if you visit the ‘fridge too often, your feet will eventually disappear.
har!!
“You’d see a darkened spot,” said David R. Smith, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Duke. “You’d see some distortion, and you’d see some shadowing, and you would see some reflection.”
- I think Hillary Clinton already has one of these gadgets because that’s the way she’s looked to me for some time now.
I could have saved them a bunch of money. All you need to divert microwaves is a properly placed piece of aluminum tin foil......
Two others are the illusion of being 10' tall and bullet proof.....
Global Warming Reversal: Sea Surface Temperatures Plunge to Coldest Temperatures in Six Years.
Climate alarmists lose another piece of evidence
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
Rosie O'Donnell. The only person who stands in front of a microwave overn and screams: "HURRY!!"
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