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Scientists Make Item Invisible to Microwaves
Vicissidude writes "A team of American and British researchers has made a cloak of invisibility. In their experiment the scientists used microwaves to try and detect a copper cylinder. Like light and radar waves, microwaves bounce off objects making them visible and creating a shadow, though it has to be detected with instruments. If you can hide something from microwaves, you can hide it from radar and visible light. In effect the device, made of metamaterials — engineered mixtures of metal and circuit board materials, which could include ceramic, Teflon or fiber composite materials — channels the microwaves around the object being hidden. When water flows around a rock, co-author David R. Smith explained, the water recombines after it passes the rock and people looking at the water downstream would never know it had passed a rock. The first working cloak was in only two dimensions and did cast a small shadow, Smith acknowledged. The next step is to go for three dimensions and to eliminate any shadow."
...that would love to be invisible to microwaves.
The article mentions that doing the same thing to light waves should be possible.
How long do you think till you can pick up a Cloak of Invisiblity at your local MegaMart?
At some point there will always be a shadow
I'm unsure about the water claim, although it is true that you can't tell the difference that doesn't mean that it's not different, the water has been moved all over the shop, but it looks like it hasn't been affected.
Other than that if they make something invisable from visable light then it wouldn't be able to see anything, so a person would be blind or a bot would be virtually impossible to navigate, because you couldn't see it or track it...
Still, very interesting idea.
*''I can't believe it's not a hyperlink.''
This will allow for more variety in TV Dinner desserts, because they can just shield it so only the stuff that needs to get nuked will get nuked. w00t!
Unpleasantries.
You know you are a fat geek when...
the first thing that came to your mind when reading this summary was:
"Oh cool, no more burnt and undercooked mini-pizzas!"
I really should go outside more often.
"The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." ~Plato (427-347 BC)
They could've posted a pict...
Oh, wait. Never mind!
If we can hit that bull's-eye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards... Checkmate.
someone using the term "kewl" is complaining about buzzwords?
*Ring* Hello?
Hi, this is the Pot calling. Is the Kettle in?
What!! This is awful!! It means my microwave item-detecting device, which I walk around with to detect objects and random items, will now be obsolete!!
...in my home.
Only funny thing about it is.... I can't find it.
I bet if I could find it though, I'd win the Nobel prize.
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Romulan Bird of Prey? (Or equally, the small Klingon ships also armed with the cloaking device?).
:-)
Sorry, grew up on waaaay too much startrek
Ah, so the ship is the cloaking device! So much for putting on pointy ears and stealing it.
Just think of the military uses. All you have to do is convince your enemy to use this on the roof of all their sensitive laboratories.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Apparently, he had an accident with the targetting mechanism.
O'WONDERWe're working on it.
I make myself invisible to microwaves by unplugging them, or turning off the lights.
...
Sneaky little buggers, always watching you and beeping at you to take your dinner or coffee out
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Thanks for the explanation. I always wondered how uncle Ray wrecked his truck.
Already done. Scientests have been invisible to human women long before slashdot was even conceived
Public use of any portable music system is a virtually guaranteed indicator of sociopathic tendencies. -- Zoso
Amazing stuff.
Obligatory Soundbite Catchphrase
I'll be able to heat up my Chef Boy-R-Dee without taking it out of the can!
...following the principles of Heisenburger's Uncertain Cat...
This is a violation of the Treaty of Algeron, the romulan empire will not stand idly by and watch as you disturb the delicate peace between our peoples! Hand over your research and all of your devices to Romulan high command at once, or they will be taken from you.
You didn't point out a single spelling mistake in the original post. You're certainly not the Definition Nazi.
Just paint the copper cylinder pink and turn on a cheap and simple Somebody Else's Problem Field.......
The real issue, and the major downside to a cloak of this nature, is how do you see where you're going while you are wearing it?
Use your feelings, you must
It occurs to me now (after the fact, of course) that said blind person would have far less fun in said ladies' washroom...
There's this thing called sarcasm, it's a relatively new advance. By stating a clearly false proposition in the proper tone of voice a touch of humour can be added while still conveying to the reader the intended meaning. Of course on the Internet the tone of voice can be lost, but what sort of moron would fail to realise this?
It's already been done. But you don't even have to cloak gravitons. What do you think all that dark matter is? It's intersolar sprawl, and the aliens use the cloaking so that we don't keep bothering them, asking for technology.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.