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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."
Planes are relatively small, and the sky is big. One really needs microwaves to detect a plane flying at high speed. Notice that I said radar invisible. It's well known that the stealth aircraft skins are very bumpy, with smaller bumps on the larger, to increase unidirectional scattering at various frequencies. Moreover, they use an anti-reflective coating. I suspect that this, if tuned to microwaves and built a few layers deep, would be used (if it isn't already) by the military, as it would effectively increase the bumpiness to microscopic levels.
After all, I am strangely colored.
According to the site it's because the hypothetical surgeon can't see what he's doing because his hand is in the way. The only problem is I'd need to stick a camera in front of my hand to get an image, and this would sort of interfere with any instrument I was using. Oh well, it's a good thing (most) surgery is not as complicated as all that...
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
This wouldn't work. The radar would pass through the molecules, only to reflect off of the aircraft skin, and pass back though the molecules.
Now, if it could be set up so that the radar would pass through once, and bounce around between the skin and the coating before finding the right angle to escape, it would probably make the radar bounce off the plane at all kinds of weird angles (making the radar useless).
The problem I'm wondering about is: What happens if the radar can't find a way out? Will it keep bouncing around, loosing energy all the while, heating up both the skin and the coating (this may become an issue)? Or would the time and energy it spent bouncing around untill it escaped be so trivial so as to not matter?
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
There is also a scene where Bond must sneak past some guards and get back in his car...he "hides" behind the car for coverage.