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Mathematicians Design Invisible Tunnel

New calculations show how to make an electromagnetic "wormhole" — a tube that is invisible from the sides but allows light to shine down the center. The practical applications are a ways off, as even the design of a spherical invisibility cloak has not advanced beyond working (in theory) for a single wavelength of visible light.

171 comments

  1. invisible from all sides by seven+of+five · · Score: 4, Funny

    anyway, it seems to work on the website.

    1. Re:invisible from all sides by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      a tube that is invisible from the sides but allows light to shine down the center

      The emperor has new clothes. A tube like that is called "vacuum". Can't see it from the sides and it allows light to shine down the center. Where's my research grant?

    2. Re:invisible from all sides by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hmmm... anyone know where we left the tunnel, I think someone misplaced it

  2. But what is it good for? by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 5, Funny

    Not to be a party pooper, but is there really any application for this tunnel? You can't see it, you can't see out of it, and you need to build it so it can only go to places you can already go.

    In NJ we already have tunnels that seem to do nothing. We call them the Holland Tunnel & Lincoln Tunnel.

    1. Re:But what is it good for? by someone1234 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Is it hidden from Google Maps?

      --
      Patents Drive Free Software as Hurricanes Drive Construction Industry
    2. Re:But what is it good for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      In NJ we already have tunnels that seem to do nothing. We call them the Holland Tunnel & Lincoln Tunnel.

      Q : Why are New Yorkers so depressed?
      A : Because the light at the end of the tunnel is New Jersey!

    3. Re:But what is it good for? by Turn-X+Alphonse · · Score: 1

      Could make for a very effective nail if they found a way to sound proof things. People can't see in or out of it, they wouldn't even know it was there except they could not enter/exit it. Would be absolutely perfect for prisons and such.

      --
      I like muppets.
    4. Re:But what is it good for? by totoanihilation · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The one application that struck me is the holographic implications. If you can get light to move to a precise spot in mid-air through an invisible tunnel, you can make objects appear anywhere. No smoke or mirrors required.

    5. Re:But what is it good for? by HomelessInLaJolla · · Score: 1

      Much easier to hide than Guatanamo and we wouldn't have to be paying rent to Cuba, either.

      AFAIK Cuba tried to remove the lease on Gitmo when Castro found out what the USA was using it for but real estate brokers and lawyers enjoy the same type of power over the Cuban government as they do here.

      --
      the NPG electrode was replaced with carbon blac
    6. Re:But what is it good for? by Strilanc · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's essentially an invisible wire. Just think of the possibilities! Invisible tripwire, an INVISIBLE clutter of wires behind your desk, and freaky rope bondage! ... maybe we should reconsider building this.

    7. Re:But what is it good for? by Propaganda13 · · Score: 1

      How about a recon vehicle?
      Put the tube standing on end around the vehicle. Use fiber optics, small cameras, or other sensors in a periscope so they can see outside the tube. There would also be the possibility of stacking smaller and smaller tubes to form a dome over an object.

    8. Re:But what is it good for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And without the messy business of dopplegangers.

    9. Re:But what is it good for? by Torvaun · · Score: 3, Funny

      "Damn, kicked the network cable out again. Aw, shit, they've already got that invisible crap here? Now I'm doomed."

      --
      I see your informative link, and raise you a pithy comment.
    10. Re:But what is it good for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Not to be a party pooper, but is there really any application for this tunnel?

      Nope. I recommend against funding this "Tunnel to Nowhere."

      Wait... strike that; it's a Series of Tubes to Nowhere.

    11. Re:But what is it good for? by got2liv4him · · Score: 0

      yes, cause Castro is such a great man, and so honorable too

      --
      King of kings and Lord of lords
    12. Re:But what is it good for? by suv4x4 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The one application that struck me is the holographic implications. If you can get light to move to a precise spot in mid-air through an invisible tunnel, you can make objects appear anywhere. No smoke or mirrors required.

      A laser beam is already invisible since it travels in a given direction. There's no light-saber beam line, like in the movies (as you probably know).

      The problem with holograms is, how do you scatter that beam at any given point (thus the smoke or vapour or whatever), so it becomes a visible light point. And thus, thus technology doesn't help holograms at all.

      Plus to create a workable resolution images (say 800 voxels = 800^3) that's 512 million tunnels, recreated/readjusted from 20 to 60 times a second. Or one really fast moving tunnel covering around 10 billion locations per second.

      Since the solution involves metal rings building the tunnel.. how the heck do you imagine this in a hologram in midair ;)?

    13. Re:But what is it good for? by mentaldingo · · Score: 1

      How about if you have the width of the tunnel nearly equal to the wavelength of the light going through it? It would diffract as it left the tunnel and "scatter" outwards. Of course, that depends on all the light having pretty much the same wavelength, so perhaps it could be displayed as a composition of separate RGB pixels like TV screens, monitors etc.
      Metal rings? I wasn't able to RTFA (I did try!)

    14. Re:But what is it good for? by Name+Anonymous · · Score: 1

      Q : Why are New Yorkers so depressed?
      A : Because the light at the end of the tunnel is New Jersey! If NJ is so great, why are all the tolls at the NJ state border to get out of NJ to any of the adjacant states? (And no toll to enter NJ.)
      Also, if NJ is so great why does the Statue of Liberty face the other way?
    15. Re:But what is it good for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The problem with holograms is, how do you scatter that beam at any given point (thus the smoke or vapour or whatever), so it becomes a visible light point. And thus, thus technology doesn't help holograms at all. And here i was looking forward to the next generation of pr0n.
    16. Re:But what is it good for? by HomelessInLaJolla · · Score: 1

      When's the last time Castro sold 301 billion people into debt and authorized worldwide military strikes against nations based on a hunch supported by bad intelligence?

      Seems to me you have your sights narrowed on the smallest fish possible.

      --
      the NPG electrode was replaced with carbon blac
    17. Re:But what is it good for? by got2liv4him · · Score: 0

      I am assuming you meant 301 million... what you're saying is all debatable depending on your political persuasion (and some bad facts, but that's ok) Although Bush is not even close to fiscally conservative on many other issues besides the war(like the rest of the so called Republicans seem to be these days.) I don't think Bush and Castro can even be compared, much less be made to seem that Castro > Bush. Just look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba and scroll down to economy. Basic necessities have to be attained on the Black Market, etc. Seems that you hate one person so much you have narrowed your sights a little much. P. S. How did this come up on a thread about Invisible Tunnels? Do you people hate Bush and America that much?!!? Is that all everything comes down to?

      --
      King of kings and Lord of lords
    18. Re:But what is it good for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you people hate Bush and America that much Typical inflammatory rhetoric. Nobody hates America. It's the politicians that are the problem.
    19. Re:But what is it good for? by EndlessNameless · · Score: 1

      When Charles Babbage invented his mechanical calculating machine, no one could foresee the invention of the computer. It's a matter of both refining the device and the integration of other technologies.

      --

      ---
      According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
  3. spelling? by skeldoy · · Score: 5, Funny

    "advenced"? "are a ways of"? That futuristic language must be from the other side of the wormhole!

    1. Re:spelling? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well you could always travel down the tunnel and aks them yourself!

  4. Meh. by Cheezymadman · · Score: 0

    I'll be impressed when they make invisible tubes for Internet2.

    --
    We're all going to die. i intend to deserve it.
  5. Uh oh.. by spankey51 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Ok... Let the penis-size jokes ensue!

    --
    -ubuntu others as you would have others ubuntu you.
  6. Wormhole? by imamac · · Score: 0, Redundant

    " New calculations show how to make an electromagnetic "wormhole"--a tube that is invisible from the sides, allowing light to shine down the center unseen." Unfortunately, this is NOT the defenition of a wormhole. What the articel describes is a physical tunnel, that is simply invisible from the outside, not a wormhole that links 2 distant places through a much shorter distance.

    1. Re:Wormhole? by PopCulture · · Score: 3, Informative

      ... hence the "quotes"

      --

      Here's to finally giving Bush his exit strategy in November
    2. Re:Wormhole? by Henry+V+.009 · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, this is NOT the defenition of a wormhole.
      Unless a worm makes it, it's not a wormhole.
    3. Re:Wormhole? by DittoBox · · Score: 1

      I love slashdot. Nothing excites me more than a good spelling mistake, not changed for fixed by our Great Editors. What's this "advenced" and how I get one myself?

      --
      Good. Cheap. Fast. Pick Two.
    4. Re:Wormhole? by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 3, Funny

      Here's to finally giving Bush his exit strategy in November

      I know I shouldn't reply to sigs, but I didn't read that as a sig at first. I was going to agree that given his current situation, an invisible wormhole would present Bush with an attractive exit strategy indeed.

      Ideally, one would be able to invisibly travel through the wormhole and emerge from it wearing a flight suit.

    5. Re:Wormhole? by abshnasko · · Score: 1
      Except not.
      FTA:

      The idea is the same as that of a wormhole linking two distant points in spacetime, hence the nickname. Parent's point is legitimate
    6. Re:Wormhole? by noidentity · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Wow, I just took a flashlight and shined it straight down in front of me and I didn't see the beam in the air at all. I better see if there's one of these invisible tunnels in front of me.

      Oh, wait, that's what light already does.

    7. Re:Wormhole? by tbischel · · Score: 1

      then why not just "tunnel"?

    8. Re:Wormhole? by Rakshasa+Taisab · · Score: 2, Funny

      I thought quotes were to separate the 'wormholes' that connect two points in space, etc, from holes containing actual worms.

      --
      - These characters were randomly selected.
    9. Re:Wormhole? by Torvaun · · Score: 1

      I love slashdot. Nothing excites me more than a good spelling mistake, not changed for fixed by our Great Editors. What's this "advenced" and how I get one myself?
      Emphasis ironic.
      --
      I see your informative link, and raise you a pithy comment.
    10. Re:Wormhole? by DittoBox · · Score: 1

      Yes, I was quite humbled after reading that rather simple mistake.

      Takes the wind from one's sails very quickly.

      --
      Good. Cheap. Fast. Pick Two.
    11. Re:Wormhole? by __aahlyu4518 · · Score: 1

      "Unless a worm makes it, it's not a wormhole."
      Unless there's a worm around it.... it's not a wormhole :)

    12. Re:Wormhole? by imamac · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Yet, if I step into the middle of th beam, you'll see me. Not so with this tunnel.

  7. This thread is useless without pictures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    If anyone is interested, I found a photo:

    1. Re:This thread is useless without pictures by rdoger6424 · · Score: 2, Funny

      I have a better picture right here

      --
      "Hello 911? I just tried to toast some bread, and the toaster grew an arm and stabbed me in the face!"
    2. Re:This thread is useless without pictures by PixelScuba · · Score: 1

      I've spent too much time on the internet... my initial thought was that this was going to be a goatse joke. Of course, that's impossible since goatse is definitely NOT invisible.

    3. Re:This thread is useless without pictures by FLAGGR · · Score: 4, Funny

      It's only invisible from the sides, not when you are looking in the hole.

    4. Re:This thread is useless without pictures by RealGrouchy · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but there was nothing on the other end.

      - RG>

      --
      Hey pal, this isn't a pleasantforest, so don't waste my time with pleasantries!
  8. military by crAckZ · · Score: 4, Interesting

    this is a good application for the army. a series of tunnels and your moving trucks and cargo without the enemy seeing them. all they would know is that you have the tunnels but would'nt know exactly what your moving.

    1. Re:military by Tribbin · · Score: 1

      Yeah, or make a giant dough-roller out of it and roll it over the country!

      --
      If you mod this up, your slashdot background will turn into a beautiful sunset!
    2. Re:military by ByteSlicer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Or they could build their tunnels out of metal-shielded concrete, and nobody would see what they are moving either (for a fraction of the price, probably).

    3. Re:military by ThePsion5 · · Score: 0

      Right up until they used thermal gear.

    4. Re:military by cathector · · Score: 3, Insightful

      why is this modded 4/interesting ?
      you don't even have to read the article. right there in the summary it says "a tube that is invisible from the sides but allows light to shine down the center." (not that the article actually says much more than the summary)

      so while i'm sure the military will have an application for this, as they seem to have applications for anything which my money can be spent on, the only things which can be moved thru the tunnel are photons.

    5. Re:military by Zakabog · · Score: 1

      You don't get it, light can go through the center, as in you can see what's in the tunnel if you are in it already, or at one of the ends. When you observe it from the side, the tunnel will look completely invisible like there's nothing there. So it's a big round cylinder that's invisible from the sides.

    6. Re:military by cathector · · Score: 1

      hm, i'm missing the article actually saying the tunnel can contain objects, but i think you're right.

    7. Re:military by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are far easier ways to bring hookers on base.

    8. Re:military by fucksl4shd0t · · Score: 1

      But those could be targeted. If your enemy only knows where your units are appearing, they can't target the supply line, only the origin and destination.

      --
      Like what I said? You might like my music
    9. Re:military by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Given that the article lists several applications, some of which involve the transportation of objects, this would definitely be the case.

    10. Re:military by soft_guy · · Score: 1

      Or they could build their tunnels out of metal-shielded concrete, and nobody would see what they are moving either (for a fraction of the price, probably). Yes, but your solution is impractical for the US military because it does not waste the maximum amount of money possible.
      --
      Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
  9. Designed?!? by sakusha · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I don't quite see how anyone can claim they designed such a thing. It is sort of like saying Klein designed a bottle that holds everything on the outside on the inside. Of course a Klein Bottle is impossible to construct, sure it's an interesting mathematical idea but it's not anything you can make in reality, so it's senseless to say it's been designed. Let's just say it's been imagined.

    1. Re:Designed?!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      KLein bottles! Get your Klein bottles!

    2. Re:Designed?!? by sakusha · · Score: 1

      Yeah right. Show me how the neck of these Klein Bottles pass through the side wall without intersecting it. That's the unique property of a Klein Bottle.

    3. Re:Designed?!? by maxume · · Score: 1

      Actually, it is more that reality isn't offended by topology:

      http://www.kleinbottle.com/ look real enough to me.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    4. Re:Designed?!? by Warbringer87 · · Score: 0, Redundant

      what are you talking about? Klein bottles can be made...

      http://www.kleinbottle.com/

    5. Re:Designed?!? by sakusha · · Score: 2, Informative

      Did you people all flunk math? Those are MODELS of a Klein Bottle, not a REAL Klein bottle. The Klein Bottle is a construct that cannot exist in normal 3D space.
      Now I suppose you're going to tell me that a drawing of a cube on a piece of paper is a real 3D cube?

    6. Re:Designed?!? by maxume · · Score: 1

      I just didn't take any higher math. I also have a tendency not to be uselessly rigid.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    7. Re:Designed?!? by DeadChobi · · Score: 1

      The article is clearly nonsense. It doesn't explain anything, merely speculates idly about how the tunnel that doesn't exist should work, throws in a few buzzwords, and some general information, and calls it a day. Nothing to see here, just more pageviews for Scientific American.

      --
      SRSLY.
    8. Re:Designed?!? by zippthorne · · Score: 1

      It is not a necessary condition. The 4d klein bottle does indeed have the property you describe, but the 3d "projection" bottles are still perfectly valid: if you bother to trace it, you'd find that they do indeed have only one surface.

      --
      Can you be Even More Awesome?!
    9. Re:Designed?!? by fractoid · · Score: 1

      Nope, we'll call it a drawing of a cube when defining it... but if someone asks "what is it?" we're liable to just say "it's a 3D cube". That's a common way to use the English language, and for most of us is not hard to understand. The ability to understand flexibly used language is one of the things that differentiates us humans from machines.

      Lots of 2D representations of 3D things are referred to as '3D' - take, for example, any game with '3D rendered graphics', ie. almost all of them these days. Common usage is, like it or not, the most reliable way to transfer information.

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
    10. Re:Designed?!? by synaptic · · Score: 1

      This woman put a lot of thought into it and made them.

      http://www.kleinbottle.net/Morgan/index.htm

      It's worth following all those links, even if they are in msword format. Too bad the e-mail address is no longer valid..

    11. Re:Designed?!? by synaptic · · Score: 1

      Hey, is that the same Clifford Stoll that authored The Cuckoo's Egg or is that just the prevailing hairdo in California?

    12. Re:Designed?!? by maxume · · Score: 1

      yeah.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    13. Re:Designed?!? by Cliff+Stoll · · Score: 1

      Yep, same guy.

    14. Re:Designed?!? by KittenJuicer · · Score: 1

      Well in that case you won't be needing your Playboy magazines...

      Just mail them to me =)

      My address:

      Apt. 4D
      Moebius Loop
      Kleinville, CA 98765

  10. That should be obvious by sczimme · · Score: 1


    Not to be a party pooper, but is there really any application for this tunnel? You can't see it, you can't see out of it, and you need to build it so it can only go to places you can already go

    That should be obvious: it will have great implications for the Internet, which - as we all know - is a series of tubes. The tunnel carries light, so it can work like a fibre connection, and we can identify the endpoints.

    :-)

    --
    I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
    1. Re:That should be obvious by tinkertim · · Score: 1

      That should be obvious: it will have great implications for the Internet, which - as we all know - is a series of tubes. The tunnel carries light, so it can work like a fibre connection, and we can identify the endpoints. :-)

      Oh, great. So every time you surf porn someone gets impailed by your 10G tube growing making the end point connection?
  11. Invisible Bandwidth by hexed_2050 · · Score: 1

    Finally we can build an invisible network of fiber optic cables!

    --
    Valkyrie is about to die! Wizard needs food -- badly!
    1. Re:Invisible Bandwidth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      that's the dumbest fucking idea I've heard since I've been at Microsoft.

      - Bill

    2. Re:Invisible Bandwidth by drewski3420 · · Score: 0, Redundant

      you mean, an invisible series of tubes?

  12. Beating Chuck Norris by Tribbin · · Score: 2, Funny

    So now you can *KLANG* Chuck Norris on the head with a tube, and he won't see it coming?

    I don't think one would have much time to enjoy the moment though, 'cause he will round-house-kick the tube into your navel.

    --
    If you mod this up, your slashdot background will turn into a beautiful sunset!
    1. Re:Beating Chuck Norris by Tribbin · · Score: 2, Funny

      Second, who round house kicks anything into the naval? Chuck Norris does.
      --
      If you mod this up, your slashdot background will turn into a beautiful sunset!
  13. Fake! by markild · · Score: 4, Funny

    Bah.. I just checked out ThinkGeek, and [b]still[/b] no 1:12 working model of a Stargate..

    I mean, what's the use of this technology if they're not putting it to good use :P

    --
    Scully: Should we arrest David Copperfield?
    Mulder: Yes we should, but not for this.
    1. Re:Fake! by markild · · Score: 1

      | sed s/\\[b\\]/\/g | sed s/\\[\\/b\\]/\<\\/b\>/g

      --
      Scully: Should we arrest David Copperfield?
      Mulder: Yes we should, but not for this.
    2. Re:Fake! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where's the +1 "Now That's Just Silly" moderation?

  14. Do wormholes exist? by zymano · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Why don't we prove that instead?

    1. Re:Do wormholes exist? by nurb432 · · Score: 1

      What they are proposing isnt really a wormhole anyway. I think they used the term just to get attention.

      --
      ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    2. Re:Do wormholes exist? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Yes. They do - at least in theory. Not in the let's-go-through-this-wormhole-in-our-spaceship kind of way, but in other more subtle, but no less interesting ways. This (the topic) is, in way, similar to wormholes, and advancing our understanding of the mathematics of things like this will only help our understanding of other things.


      If you want to read about the wormholes currently being working on, check out some papers on arXiv.org

    3. Re:Do wormholes exist? by zymano · · Score: 1

      read

  15. Advenced by DJ+Jones · · Score: 0, Redundant
    I suggest we make a few more advences in spell checking technology before we move on to any sort of spherical invisibility cloaking devices.


    - But can you make a funnel cake that tastes as good as it smells?

  16. it's a series of tubes by kirils · · Score: 3, Funny

    hell, yeah. now we'll be able to download pr0n without others seeing.

    --
    Do not. Touch. Down.
  17. The internet... by DavidWeight · · Score: 0, Redundant

    is now a series of invisible tubes

  18. Never late for work ! by Joebert · · Score: 4, Funny

    Joebert ! you're late !
    No I'm not sir, I got an early start cleaning up inside the tube.

    --
    Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
  19. Second Life Rapists by PavementPizza · · Score: 1

    The rapists in Second Life are working on an Invisible ePenis to counter this development.

    --
    Viper is the preferred editor of the Emacs operating system.
  20. Wonderful!! by perlhacker14 · · Score: 1

    Just think: we can now play hide and seek in public. Lets make tunnels to make it more exciting! Sounds like Harry Potter with all the invisibility, no? Lets face it: there are no practical applications for this invisibility tunnel, at the moment. When a valid need for something like this can be proven, then resume the project.

    1. Re:Wonderful!! by ccollao · · Score: 1

      "Lets face it: there are no practical applications for this invisibility tunnel, at the moment. "

      Aren't they? Let's do crossroads!

  21. Not really a troll... by Twisted64 · · Score: 1

    Come on, give the parent a break - the summary's only two sentences long, and an automated spell-checker would have fixed half the mistakes.

    --
    Consciousness is a myth. Trust me.
  22. Wouldn't that make it better suited for... by jd · · Score: 1

    ...lawyers?

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  23. Yeah right... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I'll believe it when I don't see it.

    1. Re:Yeah right... by Gazzonyx · · Score: 1

      I'll believe it when I don't see it.
      Nice.
      --

      If I mod you up, it doesn't necessarily mean I agree with what you've said, sorry.

  24. Math != reality by ErikZ · · Score: 4, Funny

    Math guy: "Look! We've shown how to make wormholes, with math!"

    Me: "You forgot to carry the 1."

    Math guy: "Damn!"

    --
    Democrats or Republicans. They are both taking us to the same place and they are not afraid of us anymore.
  25. Envrionmentally retarded... by Cathoderoytube · · Score: 1

    I heard about this project when it was first introduced a few years back. I actually know one of the fellas working on the project. I remember the biggest problem with the project was getting the tunnel actually invisible. Since they were working under a government grant they had a specific mandate to make the tunnel energy efficiant and environmentally friendly. So they brought in a team of chemists who insisted the tunnel would work better if it was painted black and filled with solar energy collectors. The tunnel wound up being extremely energy efficiant but they couldn't actually get through the damned thing without struggling over all the equipment jammed in there. It's good to see the mathematicians managed to bring some reason back to the project. My friend there complained every day about those solar collectors.

    --
    I have nothing compelling to say
    1. Re:Envrionmentally retarded... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...I can't decide if this is an attempt at being funny, or an attempt at pretending you're more important than you are. (Since the tunnel is a purely mathematical abstraction at present, it is impossible that you could have actually known anyone working on a physical instantiation of it...)

    2. Re:Envrionmentally retarded... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I remember the biggest problem with the project was getting the tunnel actually invisible. No shit?
  26. Bless you! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    | sed s/\\[b\\]/\<b\>/g | sed s/\\[\\/b\\]/\<\\/b\>/g
    Apology accepted.

    Now (for educational purposes) write it with only one invocation of sed.
    1. Re:Bless you! by markild · · Score: 1

      Thought about that, yeah, but figured it would be better with a working one in minutes, than a good one in days ;)

      --
      Scully: Should we arrest David Copperfield?
      Mulder: Yes we should, but not for this.
  27. Someone is watching to much stargate and falling.. by 3seas · · Score: 1

    ...asleep.

    Then waking up and inventing what they saw in friction.

    Oh wait, isn't this how the cell phone came about? (re: star trek communicators)

    Ok, now everyone start watching movies like fifth element and star wars and such.... before bed..

    Maybe we can finally get our flying cars...

  28. Obl. by PineGreen · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's the dumbest fucking idea I've heard since I've been at Microsoft.

    1. Re:Obl. by Tribbin · · Score: 1

      You've been at Microsoft?

      That's the dumbest fucking idea I've hear since... uhm.

      --
      If you mod this up, your slashdot background will turn into a beautiful sunset!
  29. obligatory by owlnation · · Score: 0

    My eyes, the goggles, zey do nothing...

    1. Re:obligatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which is to be expected... The keyword here is *invisible*.

  30. A math guy, a physics guy, and a biology guy by HungWeiLo · · Score: 5, Funny

    A biologist, a physicist, and a mathematician are sitting in an outdoor cafe. They watch two people go into a building across the street. Shortly thereafter, three people come out.

    "Hmm," says the biologist. "It looks like they reproduced."

    "Nah," says the physicist. "There was obviously error in our initial measurement."

    The mathematician looks up from his coffee. "Who cares? If another person goes in, it'll be empty."

    --
    There are a huge number of yeast infections in this county. Probably because we're downriver from the bread factory.
    1. Re:A math guy, a physics guy, and a biology guy by aztektum · · Score: 1

      Fuck... I wish I was smarter so I could get this joke

      --
      :: aztek ::
      No sig for you!!
    2. Re:A math guy, a physics guy, and a biology guy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      roflmao! that was hilarious :)

    3. Re:A math guy, a physics guy, and a biology guy by elysiuan · · Score: 1

      2 - 3 = -1
      -1 + 1 = 0
      Hilarity ensues.

    4. Re:A math guy, a physics guy, and a biology guy by cabazorro · · Score: 2, Funny

      The software developer walking by mumbled: No wonder, the door wasn't even locked.

      --
      - these are not the droids you are looking for -
    5. Re:A math guy, a physics guy, and a biology guy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some more...

      A math guy, a physics guy, and an engineer are put in jail, each one in their own cell. Everyone gets a big can of food, but no can opener. After a week, wardens come to check. The engineer is happy - he has cracked the can with bed's leg on the first day. The physics guy is quite weak and tired - he has calculated the distances between the can and the cell walls, and figured out the weak spots of the can, finally opening the can after a few days of calculation. From the mathematician's cell, the wards can hear a mumble: "Let the open can be X, ...".

      Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are on a balloon trip. A heavy storm comes and carries them way off intended course. When the weather clears up, they are hovering over a desert, not a man in sight. After a few hours, they spot a man on the ground and Dr. Watson shouts: "Mister! Would you please tell us where we are?"
      "You are on a balloon," the man on the ground replies.
      Holmes is pissed: "Damn mathematicians!"
      "Dear Holmes! Why do you think he was a mathematician?" Watson inquires.
      "Elementary, Dr. Watson! It is because what he said was absolutely correct, but totally useless!"

    6. Re:A math guy, a physics guy, and a biology guy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      And more. . .

      A plumber, a pastor, a doctor, and an engineer are playing golf one sunny afternoon. When they get to the second tee, they catch up to a foursome having considerable difficulty.

      The group starts talking about whether they should ask to play through. The plumber says, "Oh, I know these guys, they play every Wednesday morning here. They're all blind."

      The pastor says, "Oh, really? What are their names? I'd like to pray for them."

      The doctor says, "Well, I know an eye surgeon that might be able to help them."

      The engineer says, "Why the hell can't they just play at night?"

    7. Re:A math guy, a physics guy, and a biology guy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      HAHAHA MATH!

  31. And in other news.. by mrbluze · · Score: 4, Funny

    Scientists develop invisible, weightless clothing that is so thin you can't feel it. One of their first customers has been the King of England, but orders have also been placed by the President and hundreds of middle aged men hoping to impress their wives this Mother's Day.

    --
    Do it yourself, because no one else will do it yourself. [beta blockade 10-17 Feb]
  32. One word (twice) by romland · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...

    MEEP MEEP

  33. Absolutely nothin, say it again by CrazyJim1 · · Score: 1

    I have no idea what an invisibility cloak could be good for.

  34. How to build one at home. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I shoved a Maglite up my ass, battery end first. Can't see it from the sides, and you can only see the light from one angle.

  35. Math Geeks, Alice in Wonderland by bailey+don · · Score: 1

    Math Geeks can take square root of negative number before breakfast.

  36. Re:Someone is watching to much stargate and fallin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hope flying cars never come about. I don't trust random people to not fly their car into my living room.

  37. The practical applications are a ways off? by LouisZepher · · Score: 1

    One application I can think of: Video privacy. Everyone's most likely seen the advertisements for the "Sonic Ear" or similar doodad. "Watch TV without disturbing your partner's sleep!" The ads usually claim. However, whenever I heard this line, I usually replied mentally: "What about the flashing/flickering light from the television?" Well, it seems to me that this would answer that question. Then again, I've had a long day at work and my brain is a tad on the soft side right now...

    1. Re:The practical applications are a ways off? by Torvaun · · Score: 1

      My big issue is with hearing the coach at the sports game. Doesn't the Sonic Ear amplify all the ambient noise too?

      --
      I see your informative link, and raise you a pithy comment.
    2. Re:The practical applications are a ways off? by LouisZepher · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I think most of them do. But I think you know what I mean.

  38. Re:can you stick your penis in it? by postmortem · · Score: 1

    Why would you? It is already barely visible as is.

  39. Invisible Tube by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 1

    You can try to slit my neck with a knife
    I'd be watching porn in the afterlife
    You can make it so my disks all won't play
    I'll be making trouble like you always say
    You can try to push a content cartel
    As if you still had things you could honestly sell
    You can turn our culture music and art
    To little squares on cryptographic charts

    There has to be an invisible tube
    It can't be seen by just any dude
    There has to be an invisible tube
    For sending mail to senatorial boobs

    It blinks all day or it blinks all night
    Eigenstates and quantum tangled light
    It goes all way with an integer spin
    Turning into bits that the pulse brought in

    There has to be an invisible tube
    It gives free bits to everyone
    There has to be an invisible tube
    With stuff that plays when the download's done

    And you're only going to slow the pace
    by private key encryption of the human race
    You would bill me for a pretty sunset
    You haven't found a way to charge just yet

    There has to be an invisible tube
    To show us all these people in the nude
    There has to be an invisible tube
    That can't be seen running to my cube

    1. Re:Invisible Tube by afxgrin · · Score: 1

      That's awesome. Thank you for writing that.

  40. how's it different from empty space ? by cathector · · Score: 1

    a tube that is invisble from the side but allows light to shine down the center.

    wouldn't a tube-shaped region of empty space fit the same description ?

    also it seems weird that the article makes no reference at all to the size of the proposed tube. are we talking like a millimeter ? ten feet ? the wavelength of red light ?

  41. Re:can you stick your penis in it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You sure seem to be keen on other men's penises.

  42. Problem by PPH · · Score: 2, Funny

    If its invisible from the sides, how do we keep backhoe operators from digging it up?

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
    1. Re:Problem by the+grace+of+R'hllor · · Score: 1

      Same way you do with every other type of cable: You don't. On the upside, they might miss one now, occasionally.

    2. Re:Problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, now they have nothing to aim at!

  43. Link to paper by Plutonite · · Score: 4, Informative

    Because I love you all:

    http://arxiv.org/abs/math-ph/0703059

  44. single wavelength limitation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If they can only make a single color, such as red, go invisible, can they not wrap an object in a red sheet or something? :)

    [ simon.cpu ]

  45. Re:can you stick your penis in it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He is not keen on penis, he is just stating the facts.

  46. Not peer reviewed by XchristX · · Score: 1
    Sorry to be a buzzkill, but... TFA says (and I quote)

    In work submitted to a major physics journal, he and colleagues report that... and provides a ling to lanl.gov (e-print archives). The E-print archives are not a peer-reviewed "Major Physics Journal". Anyone can submit to them. They may have sent it for publication/peer-review, but then they need to say "Sent to so-and-so" in their e-print submission. As of now, the article is not peer-reviewed. Of course, if the work is deemed notable and correct then that should change, but let's not crystal-ball here.
    --
    l'Homme n'est Rien l'Oeuvre Tout: Gustave Flaubert to George Sand
    1. Re:Not peer reviewed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Oh yeah, how awful, woe betide anyone ever read a paper written by credible authors from well known universities that's not been peer reviewed.


      Some of us, possess sufficient skill to be able to review the paper ourselves should we wish, and I'll thank you not to censor scientific progress.

    2. Re:Not peer reviewed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm pretty sure a reviewer wouldn't let them get away with such silliness in the abstract. The "wormhole" stuff is stupid and "the regions they enclose are not detectable to EM observations" is just wrong, since it only works at a specific frequency.

  47. Just another case by Ep0xi · · Score: 0

    Of Experimental Science against Applied Phisics. Its a Semantic mistake to think that a thing we cannot see could be unseen in al the wave frequencies Maybe we are in the begining of a theological or metaphisical problem. as far i know the problem has no ending except to be solved by a new model for phisics. "Geniouses never ask, they guide you to the question".-

    --
    ?
  48. Boy this is a great idea! by DanielMarkham · · Score: 1

    Invisible technology!

    After this article, I'm starting to get the hang of it. Like just now, I have invented an invisible miniature nuclear reactor. It also takes up no space. I plan on using my new invisible reactor to power my next invention, the invisible flashlight! It shoots an invisible beam of light over 50 miles through any kind of weather.

    I guess I can use that to find Wonder Woman's invisible airplane when it gets lost. Man, I'm telling ya, this invisible stuff is going to be the wave of the future!

    1. Re:Boy this is a great idea! by jsiren · · Score: 1

      I just bought this roll of invisible tape, and now I already seem to have lost it... I distinctly remember putting it right here, but it's nowhere to be seen... never mind, I couldn't find the end of the darn thing, anyway...

      --
      Usage: km/h for speed (kilometers per hour); kph for very slow impulses (kilopond hours).
  49. wow by zen-theorist · · Score: 1

    does bush get *anything* right ever?

  50. why always goatse? by freaker_TuC · · Score: 1

    ... why do you go to get goatse.cx involved in this?
    couldn't you really leave it out for just one time?

    --
    --- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
    1. Re:why always goatse? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're new here aren't you?

    2. Re:why always goatse? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's always tubgirl instead.

    3. Re:why always goatse? by freaker_TuC · · Score: 1

      We're talking about "invisible tunnel" .. to my opinion tubgirl ain't so invisible anymore (even do I wish so) ...

      --
      --- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
  51. So. . . by cadeon · · Score: 1

    Are we going to start calling it "Tunnel-ware" instead of "Vapor-ware?"

  52. Oh Great... by lilfields · · Score: 1

    now I'll never beat Tunnel

  53. mathematicians? by kaizokuace · · Score: 1

    mathematicians? or mathemagicians? this is some harry potter shit yo, fr reals mang.

    --
    Balderdash!
  54. Re:Someone is watching to much stargate and fallin by Kailassa · · Score: 1

    As they say, "tooth can be stranger than friction".

  55. The Light of Other Days by Jon+Abbott · · Score: 1

    One future application of this technology is covered in the book The Light of Other Days by Stephen Baxter and Arthur C. Clarke. In it, a company develops a way to spy on anyone, anywhere using light wormholes. It completely changes society because suddenly privacy is non-existent. The book is a very interesting read, and it's available on Amazon for a penny.

  56. Re:No smoke or mirrors required. by jedi_gras · · Score: 1

    Oh, but a mirror IS required. Anyone have a link to a mirror or cache?

    (and regarding your comment, w/o the smoke, how are u going to see the light? unless its pointing directly at you which probably isn't a good thing)

  57. TFA wrong by mattr · · Score: 1

    The CG illustration shows a portal in the middle of a road. Stupid because cars would crash into the tunnel.

    Also arxiv is I thought where anyone can submit. So TFA saying a major journal is disingenuous because it is popoular but not peer reviewed, unless I missed something.

    The tunnel is not nonexistent, cloaking only works at a certain frequency range. Probably it could be found through lower frequency vibration (seismic/sonic) or higher energy perhaps (i.e. X-ray). Right?

    So I take it the idea is basically saying (though I have only read part of the paper yet) that you can wear a cloak of invisibility and even open the side of it, and if you flare it open still nobody can see you except head-on.

    There is one neat thing where they say a magnetic field entering one end of the tunnel would look like a magnetic monopole at the other end. Also looks like it might be useful in building telescopes.

    1. Re:TFA wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, except that "seismic/sonic" vibrations aren't a kind of electromagnetic radiation - ITYM "infra-red/radio waves".

      Of course, the magnetic monopole application only works for such a tunnel tuned for constant fields, with zero frequency, or for hypothetical dispersionless metamaterials which don't exist yet.

    2. Re:TFA wrong by mattr · · Score: 1

      Sorry you are correct of course. I meant it could be detected, through non-EM means.

  58. Lossless fiber optics by ohearn · · Score: 1

    Actually there are several applications I can think of dealing with fiber optics. Currently if you can get access to the fiber, you can monitor signals going through it without having to actually splice the line, so noone knows the line has been tampered with. This would prevent such an attack on a fiber optic network, great for improving security on a network.

    Also if it cannot be seen from any side, it means it loses no light during transmission, like current fiber does, removeing the need for repeaters over long distances of fiber.

    These are just the two things I thought of immediately. This does not mean that it is work with cost of actually building, but they are possible applications.

  59. First thought, i/o by jshriverWVU · · Score: 1

    Perhaps this could be a good replacement for fiber.

  60. Er, Um, it's Been Done, by man and nature., by Ancient_Hacker · · Score: 1

    Um, you know when there's a temperature inversion between you and the nearest big city? And you start picking up radio and TV stations from that city that you normally never receive? Nature made you a temporary tunnel for radio waves. p Your typical fiber optic fiber does something much like this. The fiber has a gentle gradient of index of refraction from the center out. So light ends up traveling by the quickest path-- very close to down the exact center. Older fibers depended on light bouncing off the insides, zig-zagging its way down the fiber. That worked, but there were too many possible paths and the bits would end up coming out the other end slightly jittered in time.

  61. INVISIBLE TUNNEL!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Mathematizian cat is zmart.

  62. The first application by aibrahim · · Score: 1

    military communications security. It might not be useful for troops in the field, but it might work well between bases and ships at sea. Might even be tenable for laser communications in aircraft.

    Of course... this all assumes that you only need the metal ring(s) at the end points as portrayed in the article picture. That much wasn't clear to me from the summary.

    --

    Don't post innacurate information
    If you do, I swear by my pretty floral bonnet I will end you.
  63. cloaking device by loafula · · Score: 1

    i've designed a special light-sensitive cloaking device that, when in the absence of light, renders the wearer completely invisible to the naked eye.

    --
    FOXTROT UNIFORM CHARLIE KILO