Scientist thinks invisibility possible in future

Reuters ^ | July 31, 2006 | Patricia Reaney

[AntiGuv]

LONDON (Reuters) - It's unlikely to occur by swallowing a pill or donning a special cloak, but invisibility could be possible in the not too distant future, according to research published on Monday.

Harry Potter accomplished it with his magic cloak. H.G. Wells' Invisible Man swallowed a substance that made him transparent.

But Dr Ulf Leonhardt, a theoretical physicist at St Andrews University in Scotland, believes the most plausible example is the Invisible Woman, one of the Marvel Comics superheroes in the "Fantastic Four."

"She guides light around her using a force field in this cartoon. This is what could be done in practice," Leonhardt told Reuters in an interview. "That comes closest to what engineers will probably be able to do in the future."

Invisibility is an optical illusion that the object or person is not there. Leonhardt uses the example of water circling around a stone. The water flows in, swirls around the stone and then leaves as if nothing was there.

"If you replace the water with light then you would not see that there was something present because the light is guided around the person or object. You would see the light coming from the scenery behind as if there was nothing in front," he said.

In the research published in the New Journal of Physics, Leonhardt described the physics of theoretical devices that could create invisibility. It is a follow-up paper to an earlier study published in the journal Science.

"What the Invisible Woman does is curve space around herself to bend light. What these devices would do is to mimic that curved space," he said.

Although the devices are still theoretical, Leonhardt said scientists are making advances in metamaterials -- artificial materials with unusual properties that could be used to make invisibility devices.

"There are advances being made in metamaterials that mean the first devices will probably be used for bending radar waves or the electromagnetic waves used by mobile phones," he said.

The devices could be used as protection mechanisms so the radiation emitted from mobile phones does not penetrate electronic equipment. It is guided around it.

"It is very likely that the demonstration for radar would come first and very soon. To go into the visual will take some time but it is also not so far off," Leonhardt said.

[dfwgator]

I'm already invisible.

Well, for a start, at the office where I work I can be sitting at my desk all day and the others totally ignore me. At home, even though we are in the same room, my wife does not speak to me for hours, people pass me by in the street without a glance in my direction, and I can walk into a room without...

[Tijeras_Slim]

I have the ability to make my posts invisible now.

[Frank Sheed]

A potent side effect with lasting consequences from time to time!

;-o)

[FourtySeven]

Engage cloaking device.

[contemplator]

or terrorists.

[31R1O]

That is the thing with science and discovery, it often leads to more question.

[AbeKrieger]

Lynn Swann is demonstrating this exact technology in his campaign for PA governor.

[Kolb]

...and bleedin' Watney's Red Barrel...

[traditional1]

It's being done NOW...my Senators (Dewine and Voinovich), have literally disappeared, as far as representing the conservative viewpoint voters...........

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

Of course, there is a down side:

It's Saturday night and Superman is especially ready to party after a hard week of saving the world. So he throws on his cape and heads off to a party. Along the way, he passes Wonder Woman's penthouse suite. To his surprise, he sees through her open window that she is still at home, naked in her bed, lying on her back. Superman thinks to himself, "I'm faster than a speeding bullet. I can fly in there, have sex with her and be gone before she knows it."

So in an instant, Superman flies in, does the deed, and flies back out. At this point, Wonder Woman sits up and says, "Did you hear something?" "No," replies the Invisible Man, "but my butt is killing me.

[wyattearp]

"While the selective bending of light is theoretically possible, the power cost is enormous. The Romulans may have solved that problem."

[Hoplite]

Step 1: Find hot chick.
Step 2: Attempt to strike up conversation.

Voila! Invisibility!

Step 3: Perseverance, removes invisibility, but invariably leads to...
Step 4: Washing mace/pepper spray out of eyes.

[polymuser]

Sensible liberals have had this for years.

[sportutegrl]

Is that anything like a SEP, (Somebody Else's Problem) Field?

[massadvj]

Stick your head in a hole and if you can't see anyone then chances are they can't see you either.

I see you've been reading the Dims' think tank working papers on national defense again....

[ROLF of the HILL COUNTRY]

I realize almost everyone here thinks this a big joke...
and I hope I won't be called a nutcase,... or worse, reported for revealing state secrets...
(everything following is the result of deduction and connecting the dots of unclassified information)

Here goes: When the stealth fighter (F-117) was first disclosed to the public, it was reported that its "invisibility to radar" was due to its strange, multi-faceted shape. However I learned firsthand from the commander of the F-117 unit that there were antennas on the plane that provided the "stealthiness." This was probably classified at the time, but since we've brought B-2 and other stealth planes on line, it's surely obvious to anyone thinking about it that the aircrafts' shape is NOT the stealth factor. So, what does this have to do with invisibility? Radar is just a wavelength in the light spectrum, if it can be nullified in some way, then the visible wavelengths can be similarly affected. We may already have this technology in use on the SR-71's replacement "Aurora"

[wyattearp]

However I learned firsthand from the commander of the F-117 unit that there were antennas on the plane that provided the "stealthiness."

The only way to nullify the radar with antennas is by going active (radiating a signal which counters the incoming radar). Going active is like waving a big red flag, telling some smarty pants to nail you with an ARM (which is what our Wild Weasles do).

Passive stealth technology is totally different from active jamming. The F-117 reflects/absorbs radar in such a way that not enough of the pulse comes back to the receiver for the equipment to register it. IOW, the radar only gets a very small portion of its signal back, and that signal cannot be read above the background noise.

[Loud Mime]

Wasn't Burt invisible at one time?

[King Prout]

I'll believe it when I don't see it :)