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Engineers Devise Invisibility Shield

Posted by timothy on from the impossibly-large-yellow-somethings dept.

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."

10 of 316 comments (clear)

  1. Cloak of invisibility? by xsfo · · Score: 5, Funny

    What sort of armor class do you get with that?

  2. obligatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I didn't see that one coming.

    1. Re:obligatory by kryten_nl · · Score: 5, Funny

      Or, "I'll believe it, when I see it."

      --
      For the perfect anti-Unix, write an OS that thinks it knows what you're doing better than you do and let it be wrong.
  3. I already have one of these by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    See, it hides my identity when I post on Slashdot!

    1. Re:I already have one of these by mrchaotica · · Score: 5, Funny

      Oops.

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

  4. Also... by Create+an+Account · · Score: 5, Funny

    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!

  5. Re:Invisibility cloaking by ozbird · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why do surgeons need an invisibility cloak? To hide from malpractice lawsuits?

  6. Re:Invisibility cloaking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    How long til I can buy this stuff at Walmart?
    As soon as they can find a way to make this stuff in China.
  7. Fricking perfect by mykdavies · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.
  8. Monty Python by vistic · · Score: 5, Funny
    hmmm...

    I don't think these engineers devised any sort of "invisibility shield" ...maybe they're just really dull....

    host: With me now is Mr. Thomas Walters of West Hartlepool who is totally invisible. Good evening, Mr Walters. (turns to empty chair)

    walters: Over here, Hughie. (host turns to see boring, visible man)

    host: Mr. Walters, are you sure you're invisible?

    walters: Oh yes, most certainly.

    host: Well, Mr. Walters, what's it like being invisible?

    walters: Well, for a start, at the office where I work I can be sitting at my desk all day and the others totally ignore me. At home, even though we are in the same room, my wife does not speak to me for hours, people pass me by in the street without a glance in my direction, and I can walk into a room without...

    host: Well, whilst we've got interesting people, we met Mr. Oliver Cavendish who...

    walters: Even now you yourself, you do hardly notice me...