Green | August 11, 2008 | 7 comments

Invisiblility Cloak just around the bend

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7553061.stm

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SonicSubculture
Scientists recently achieved an important milestone in the field of stealth research.

By creating exotic "metamaterials" which have unique nano-scale structures, new mystical effects are being observed and exploited.

Not too long ago, a structure capable of deflecting radar in a puzzling way was demonstrated. Now, scientists have upped the ante by reducing the size of those structures, and along with it, the wavelength of the energy waves with which it interacts.

This recent advance suggests that the researchers are on the right track, and may soon further improve the technology to work in the realm of visible light.

The effects can best be described as light flowing around the cloaked object much like water flows around a rock in a stream.

The military is especially interested in the implications of these discoveries.

"Peeping-toms" everywhere rejoice.
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7 comments // Invisiblility Cloak just around the bend

  • arcticspirit
  • regularrf
  • Angel4truth
    • 0
      Angel4truth  
    • Image

    • Jammer, afraid a truck will hit ya while invisible outside? I heard you were stealthy anyway. You should be used to that by now...

      Still, despite its limitations (see picture as to how good it is at this time), this is a cool piece of technology. i see where it could be bad...

      BECAUSE: some people are just damn EVIL!
      (smiles and laughs)

    • 3 years ago
  • J_Jammer
  • arcticspirit
    • 0
      arcticspirit  
    • J_Jammer:

      Uh.. I got confused there. very helpful or very harmful.. but I am guessing you are thinking something like, depending on who had and used the tech, it could be very helpful or harmful?

      brain smoking again..

    • 3 years ago
  • heyyo
  • arcticspirit
    • 0
      arcticspirit  
    • Image

    • New tech is always fun. This one takes me by surprise because I never thought it would be realistic. This is pretty cool I think.

      Any followers of Ghost in a Shell?
      They make the most use of this tech in Ghost in a Shell Stand Alone Series. The original movie has it also, but very different.

      Stand Alone Complex takes place in the year 2030, in the fictional Japanese city of New Port. The series follows the exploits of Public Security Section 9, a special operations task-force made up of former military officers and police detectives. Most have augmentations to their bodies, although the woman who is the lead officer is cyborg with a human mind and "ghost = soul".

      An important technology used in the series is thermo-optical camouflage.

      Members of Section 9 as well as their Tachikoma tanks (they have an adaptive Ai and are kinda adorable imho) have the ability to activate a special camouflage technology which enables them to blend in with the environment, making them near-invisible to the naked eye.

      It is an active stealth system which projects ambient conditions of the opposing side, and thus rendering the masked object transparent by transmission. The system is not shown to be perfect, as it seems unable to compensate for sudden changes and physical impacts nor impervious to close observation.

      A faint translucent distortion is shown as the limitations of the technology. In the legal landscape of the series, usage of the technology without a warrant is heavily restricted.

      The use of this technology by Section 9 is the exception, and not the norm - further highlighting their extraordinary legal standing. Surprisingly, there is present day research into the active optic camouflage inspired by the fictional portrayal of it by the University of Tokyo [1].

      Thanks for reading.

    • 3 years ago
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