Posted on 03/24/2012 11:19:51 PM PDT by U-238
European researchers said Thursday they have created a device invisible to a static magnetic field that could have practical military and medical applications.
Fedor Gomory and colleagues in Slovakia and Spain designed a cloak for a direct current, or dc, magnetic field that is static and produced by a permanent magnet or coil carrying a direct current.
DC magnetic fields are used in MRI imaging devices, in hospitals and in security systems, such as those in airports.
The researchers' device, described in a study in Friday's edition of the journal Science, features a cylinder with two concentric layers. While the inner layer consists of a superconducting material that repels magnetic fields, the outer layer is a ferromagnetic material that attracts them.
Placed in a magnetic field, the device has no effect on the field lines, showing neither a shadow nor a reflection. So an object inside the device cannot be detected.
"There are many applications -- for some cars, ships or a submarine," said study co-author Alvaro Sanchez of the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
He told AFP the device could also be used for patients who have a pacemaker and need a MRI of a knee or other body part, so the image would not be distorted.
Because it is made from commercially available materials, as well as operating under relatively strong magnetic fields and relatively warm liquid nitrogen temperatures, the device could easily be put to practical use, according to the authors.
"For the submarine, you have to make a shell around the submarine that will make the submarine magnetically undetectable," said Sanchez.
"This could also be used to protect some (military and medical) equipment against electromagnetic disturbances."
(Excerpt) Read more at defencetalk.com ...
bflr
Placed in a magnetic field, the device has no effect on the field lines, showing neither a shadow nor a reflection. So an object inside the device cannot be detected.
Hmm.
You have a good eye, Tigerseye
bkmk
That’s the way of technology though isn’t it? Whatever the latest defensive or offensive gizmo is it is never very long before something is made to defeat it. But the productive uses are good.
What effect would this device have on nearby electronic equipment during an EMP attack? Any guesses?
Not good for trying to sneak something past security, if that is what you are thinking. Even if you could make it portable and concealable under clothing, the LN2-cooled superconductor section would be obvious to an IR scan...
Here I am all dressed up with my LN2-cooled superconductor section under my overcoat and nowhere to go. ;^)
Would this be a “cloaking device” (as in Star Trek)?
Would this be a “cloaking device” (as in Star Trek)?
It sure sounds like it.
It sounds like only cloaking to magnetic field reading devices. Obviously not to visible light (but I think someone has come up with that to a degree?), but to magnetic sensors. I’m not sure about electromagnetic sensors - but I am guessing that it is. I would imagine that the stuff at the airports is electromagnetic (to detect all metals) and not just magnetic (iron only).
Better have your woolies between the device and your skin!
I made a shirt with a space blanket. ;^)
Save your money. Recent reports are showing that a weapon concealed on the side of your body gets lost in the background shadow of those newfangled airport security scanners.
Yeah. Tequila induces that...
Box better have some VERY good insulation or your are going to have major problems.
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