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Tsunami Invisibility Cloak

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the just-deflect-those-waves-to-the-poor-town-next-door dept.

BuzzSkyline writes "New Scientist is reporting on a lab-scale experiment that may lead to a tsunami invisibility cloak, which could protect islands, open-ocean platforms and even coastlines from dangerous waves by effectively making them invisible to tsunamis. The technology is based on the same sorts of negative index of refraction ideas that some physicists are exploring as they try to make an optical invisibility cloak, except that it works with water instead of light."

8 of 172 comments (clear)

  1. Dharma Initiative anyone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Notice when the Island moved at the end of last year? What date was it? What happened around that time? Tsunami.

  2. Nothing to see by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Move along - Nothing to see here.

  3. invisibility will help? by mackil · · Score: 5, Funny

    And invisibility will help you against a giant wave? I wasn't aware that Tsunamis basically hunted those vulnerable islands and coastlines down for large scale destruction.

    1. Re:invisibility will help? by Shadow+Wrought · · Score: 5, Funny

      And invisibility will help you against a giant wave? I wasn't aware that Tsunamis basically hunted those vulnerable islands and coastlines down for large scale destruction.

      Well they tried giant towels, figuring that the Tsunami would think that since the Island couldn't see it, then it must not be able to see the Island, but that didn't work because Tsunami's are far to clever for that. Which isn't too surprising since Tsunami's are proven pack hunters, always attacking in waves.

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      If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
  4. Jeez by atomicthumbs · · Score: 5, Funny

    What's wrong with these scientists? Why work on making tsunamis invisible when we have enough trouble with the ordinary, visible ones already?

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  5. Waterhenge! by MaxwellEdison · · Score: 5, Funny

    Anyone else notice that their scale model looked an awful lot like a certain circle of monolithic stones? We know the technology works. When was the last time Britain was hit by a tsunami?

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    -=Bang Bang=-
    1. Re:Waterhenge! by AshtangiMan · · Score: 5, Funny

      Right, so before that structure was built. That must have been the event that led to its construction.

  6. Re:But what about the other islands by MaxwellEdison · · Score: 5, Funny

    Read the article? I'm too busy spouting pithy one-liners and making knee-jerk reactions based on my limited understanding of the subject matter! This is /. after all right?

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    -=Bang Bang=-