Engineers Devise Invisibility Shield

zavvy · Feb 28, 2005

Engineers Devise Invisibility Shield LINK The idea of a cloak of invisibility that hides objects from view has long been confined to the more improbable reaches of science fiction. But electronic engineers have now come up with a way to make one. Andrea Alù and Nader Engheta of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia say that a 'plasmonic cover' could render objects "nearly invisible to an observer". Their idea remains just a proposal at this stage, but it doesn't obviously violate any laws of physics. "The concept is an interesting one, with several important potential applications," says John Pendry, a physicist at Imperial College in London, UK. "It could find uses in stealth technology and camouflage." Cloak of many colours Types of invisibility shielding have been developed before, but these mostly use the chameleon principle: a screen is coloured to match its background, so that the screened object is camouflaged. For example, inventor Ray Alden in North Carolina has proposed a system of light detectors and emitters that project a replica of the scene appearing behind an object from its front surface. Researchers at the University of Tokyo are working on a camouflage fabric that uses a similar principle, in which the background scene is projected on to light-reflecting beads in the material. But the invisibility shield proposed by Alù and Engheta in a preprint on arXiv1 is more ambitious than this. It is a self-contained structure that would reduce visibility from all viewing angles. In that sense it would be more like the shielding used by the Romulans in the Star Trek episode "Balance of Terror" in 1966, which hid their spaceships at the push of a button. Scatter-brained The key to the concept is to reduce light scattering. We see objects because light bounces off them; i

astrophoto · Feb 28, 2005

Fascinating. Think of hiding an entire planet or ship using this to hide from long-wavelength detection. If we lived in a dangerous Galaxy, this might prove super useful. And of course the more mundane uses as described in the article are nice as well.

the_masked_squiggy · Feb 28, 2005

I think hiding it would be extremely difficult. I mean, we're not just talking about visible light anymore. Because any smart rival would have a multiwavelength detector. But hey, that's what the future's for, right? By then we should be able to defend ourselves better too. (Thinking of ICBM defense system that only works sometimes and that only when there's a gps on the missile). It would be pretty sweet though.

Saiph · Feb 28, 2005

this should work on planes with most radar waves I'd think. Nice stealth coating for them. Visible light...not so much. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> --------------------SaiphMOD@gmail.com -------------------"This is my Timey Wimey Detector. Goes "bing" when there's stuff. It also fries eggs at 30 paces, wether you want it to or not actually. I've learned to stay away from hens: It's not pretty when they blow" -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink" </div>

gregoire · Feb 28, 2005

This sounds like more ammunition for the SETI types to explain why we haven't found life elsewhere yet.

igorsboss · Mar 1, 2005

Engineers have known about invisibility cloaks for years. Many demonstrate the technique whenever they are placed in the proximity of several middle-managers in a corporate meeting.

siarad · Mar 1, 2005

Aircraft have been painted in 'invisible' paint for as long as I remember i.e. 50 years. I recall having to calculate the impedance of free space as an exam question, it's 377 Ohm. It works for RADAR not light of course.

siarad · Mar 1, 2005

Black paint is the oposite of what is required for aircraft who's underside are painted white to aid invisibility. Black increases visibility in most cases, real burglars don't wear black nor do military.

Saiph · Mar 1, 2005

right, the color that most reduces visual detection of an aircraft is actually a pastel pink color apparently. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> --------------------SaiphMOD@gmail.com -------------------"This is my Timey Wimey Detector. Goes "bing" when there's stuff. It also fries eggs at 30 paces, wether you want it to or not actually. I've learned to stay away from hens: It's not pretty when they blow" -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink" </div>

claywoman · Mar 1, 2005

you mean the paint is, to use the colloquial term, titty pink?

Saiph · Mar 1, 2005

that may be the case. Now, imagine how that goes over with the pilots, and you'll know why other colors (also good, but not as good) are used. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> --------------------SaiphMOD@gmail.com -------------------"This is my Timey Wimey Detector. Goes "bing" when there's stuff. It also fries eggs at 30 paces, wether you want it to or not actually. I've learned to stay away from hens: It's not pretty when they blow" -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink" </div>

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