Invisibility Cloak

edited November 2006 in General Chat
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6064620.stm


Amazing! Star Trek is closer then we think!

Comments

  • edited October 2006
    Of the things from Star Trek I'd like to have it in real life, an invisibility cloak is much lower on my list than a transporter, a replicator and especially a holodeck. Still, this is remarkably cool. Wonder how long before this technology becomes workable for things like, say, military applications.
  • edited October 2006
    Sorry to say but it is pretty old news.
    This technology has been in development for years already and there have been some working prototypes long before this one.
  • edited October 2006
    Sorry to say but it is pretty old news.
    This technology has been in development for years already and there have been some working prototypes long before this one.

    Are you sure man? - I've remember reading about the development a while back, but it was purely theoretical at the time (also I couldn't dig anything up after a quick google search so I got confused) :)
  • edited October 2006
    There was one in Japan not too long ago and there was another one a long time ago about one that the us army had.


    Here is an article from 2004
    http://www.bbcworld.com/content/clickonline_archive_33_2004.asp?pageid=666&co_pageid=3
  • edited October 2006
    The date on the article is the date I posted it. Oh well
  • edited October 2006
    Yeah. well, you can't trust the Japanese one. Why? Check the URL. "pageid=666". That article is the work of Lucifer himself!
  • edited October 2006
    There was one in Japan not too long ago and there was another one a long time ago about one that the us army had.


    Here is an article from 2004
    http://www.bbcworld.com/content/clickonline_archive_33_2004.asp?pageid=666&co_pageid=3

    I don't know if you've read the article, but it's an entirely different technology than the one you're talking about.

    The article you just posted is an example of a very good camelflauging technology, but NOT invisibility.

    If you actually look at the photos, you can see the people who are "invisible." Clearly, they're not really.

    On the other hand, the actual article about ACTUAL invisibility that this thread is supposed to be about is an actual case of "you can't see it."

    Granted, in this case, it's a case of "you can't see it with microwaves," because the technology to produce metamaterials has not reached sufficient complexity to render things invisible to visible light.

    Let's compare the two technologies:

    Fake invisibility: Uses complicated fiberoptics to make things seem invisible.

    Real invisibility: Uses metamaterials and negative indeces of refraction to make things really be invisible.

    The question is: Which is invisibility, and which is not?
  • edited November 2006
    Maratanos wrote: »
    The question is: Which is invisibility, and which is not?

    & which will allow me to sneak into girls locker rooms undetected?
    My expectations of the pillow fights within are very high
  • edited November 2006
    it seems like they are advancing. I remember a while back when they were only able to do this with a single photon. Still a long way from destroying a living being and recreating him on the other side without ill effects. We'll maybe be able to do it when we have flying cars.....
  • edited November 2006
    & which will allow me to sneak into girls locker rooms undetected?
    My expectations of the pillow fights within are very high

    Neither, unless they can only see microwaves for some reason...
  • edited November 2006
    Alucard wrote: »
    it seems like they are advancing. I remember a while back when they were only able to do this with a single photon. Still a long way from destroying a living being and recreating him on the other side without ill effects. We'll maybe be able to do it when we have flying cars.....

    Am I the only one who feels there's something wrong about this sentence? :)
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