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While usually this next piece of technology is so far-fetched it was relegated to Star-Trek, Harry Potter, and a shoddy James Bond movie, nerds scientists down at Purdue University have created a new design for an invisibility cloak. The cloak, based on the complex mathematical equations required to bend certain wavelengths of light, is a simple device that could hide everything from toothbrushes to aircraft. The only downside of this is that the current designs can only influence one wavelength of light at a time. However, even with this limitation, there are plenty of uses for this scandal-bound gadget…
Actually, while doing some research on the cloak itself, I’ve come across two separate and unique ways to achieve the invisibility effect. 1) Paul did an article about Duke University, back in October 2006, which created a cloaking “cylinder” which hides it’s contents from certain wavelengths of light. This cylinder works by using what some researchers have called “metamaterials” or materials that when engineered properly, have properties (in this case, electromagnetic properties) unlike what you get from typical fabrication processes. These “metamaterials” bend waves of energy back around an object after these waves have been displaced by the normal object. Plus, 2) The scientists at Purdue University have published a design where tiny metal needles are placed in a cone-much like a hairbrush pattern-in a way that forces light and other waves to pass around it harmlessly. Unlike the Duke design, where some is reflected and refracted, the light completely bends around the cone of rods, making the object completely disappear. While there have been many attempts at active camoflage before (see the invisibility coat), these two ideas are the first true-to-physics concepts. The result is, although not perfectly, a mirror image of the initial emission of light waves.
Obviously, the military is highly interested in this. Such technology, while unable to be used (right now) as personal cloaking devices, could be used to create the first truly “invisible” bomber. A cloaking shell could be engineered to the wavelength used in radar platforms, which would then pass a majority of the radar waves right on through. Coupled with advanced composites already in place, the cross-section would be smaller than a bird. Similarly, night vision camoflage could be made, since NVGs only use one piece of the light spectrum to ’see’.
And if you really want to go invisible, just paint yourself all one color, and set the wavelength to whichever color you picked. Just make sure you check in with those guys at Duke or Purdue before you go losing your wallet…
Photo Credit: Physorg.com
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