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Engineers Devise Invisibility Shield
GerritHoll points out an article in Nature according to which "researchers at the University of Pennsylvania 'say that a "plasmonic cover" could render objects "nearly invisible to an observer.' Earlier attempts at invisibility worked by colouring a screen to match its background, like a chameleon. The described technique is new, because it works by the concept of reducing light scattering. It is not a 'magic cloak,' however, because it will not work for the full range of visible light and needs to be adjusted precisely for the shape of the object. However, the concept could find an application in stealth technology."
What sort of armor class do you get with that?
Making something invisible is easy: all you have to do is generate a Somebody Else's Problem field of sufficient size.
(Seriously, am I the only one who looked at this, saw the word 'plasmonic', and thought "Fucking Slashdot editors, its *March 1st*, not *April 1st*"?)
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Mod me down, you fucking twits. Go ahead. I dare you.
(I read with sigs off.)
I didn't see that one coming.
... to let me sneak undetected into a ladies locker room, then we'll talk.
bash: rtfm: command not found
See, it hides my identity when I post on Slashdot!
From the article: "And crucially, the effect only works when the wavelength of the light being scattered is roughly the same size as the object. So shielding from visible light would be possible only for microscopic objects."
OK. So if I have this straight... "You see that thing you can't see because it's too small? Well we just made it invisible! Please send more grant funding. And a few burritos. We're like, totally hungry dude."
Uh huh....
Here is the technique let yourself invisible, try it yourself: http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?p=439508
From the article:
...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.
...it's called a "cloaking device", you insensitive clod!
Really? Invisibility could be used for tasks requiring stealth? No way, that's crazy talk.
Why do surgeons need an invisibility cloak? To hide from malpractice lawsuits?
This article is like going to a movie after seeing the really great preview, and finding out that the really great preview contains every single really great moment in the movie.
It's made me invisible to women for 10 years now.
I wish I could turn it off.
I won't believe this 'til I see it.
its amazing what scientists can do.
Absolutely... if we can just get our weapons' size down to a few microns, and get (Al Quaida|Ruskies|Iraq|Iran|North Korea|Massachusetts) to limit their surveillance techniques to the proper wavelength, then this will be really breakthrough technology!
the effect only works when the wavelength of the light being scattered is roughly the same size as the object
This would make it the perfect for those awkward moments when your nanobots are being attacked by lasers (mounted on sharks?)
The world has changed and we all have become metal men.
I have thought about this few times(when feverish or some other way mentally challenged states) and decided that our technology isn't yet suitable to accomplish this.
Basically it's quite simpple - all you have to do is route every incoming photon around the object without changing it's course.
Fabric made of nano-fibres?
/* If everybody would be like me the world would be much better place to be - at least in my mind. */
I don't think these engineers devised any sort of "invisibility shield"
I think the device you mean would be a DeBigulator. Of course to return to normal size would require some kind of ReBigulator, which is an idea so patently absurd I can't even begin to comprehend it, ng'hiey!
Come on, guys! I can't be the first to notice... Okay, I'll spell it out for you -- the correct first reaction to this story is:
(Have none of you kids ever heard of The Philadelphia Experiment ?)
David Gould
main(i){putchar(340056100>>(i-1)*5&31|!!(i<6)<< 6)&&main(++i);}