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Illusion Cloak Makes One Object Look Like Another

KentuckyFC writes "Metamaterials are synthetic substances that can steer light in any way imaginable. Their most famous incarnation is in invisibility cloaks which work by steering light around a region of space making any object inside that region invisible. But invisibility is just the start. A team of physicists in Hong Kong (the same guys who recently worked out how to cloak objects at a distance) have worked out how to create a cloak that makes one object look like another. Instead of steering light to make a region of space look empty, the illusion cloak manipulates light in a way that makes a region of space look as if it contains a specific object. So any object within that region of space, a mouse say, takes on the appearance of an elephant."

44 of 219 comments (clear)

  1. That's some sweet stuff by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Soon people all over can put one on their wives to have them look like supermodels... Yay!

    1. Re:That's some sweet stuff by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Or put one on my... you know...like they made the mouse look like an elephant?

    2. Re:That's some sweet stuff by Locke2005 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Still won't change the pleasure your new elephant can give. What's the matter, sheep aren't good enough for you?

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    3. Re:That's some sweet stuff by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Funny

      Anybody who's ever gone to a drag bar knows this is not new.

      When I moved to a new apartment in Chicago's New Town in my early twenties, my roommate (native of Kansas) and I walked around the corner to get a beer after a long day of hauling furniture. The first thing we noticed was the place was full of incredibly hot girls.

      Or so we thought...

      Fortunately, a bartender took pity on us two naifs and clued us in before we did anything irredeemable. My buddy, who was a few beers ahead of me, took some convincing, let me tell you.

      Cognitive dissonance, when it involves the little head, is tough to deal with sometimes.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    4. Re:That's some sweet stuff by unlametheweak · · Score: 4, Funny

      Instead of steering light to make a region of space look empty, the illusion cloak manipulates light in a way that makes a region of space look as if it contains a specific object, such as an elephant. So any object within that region of space, a mouse say, takes on the appearance of an elephant."

      This is just going to piss off astronomers and give more credence to the UFO and ET enthusiasts when miscreants start projecting images of elephants floating around in the night sky.

    5. Re:That's some sweet stuff by mqduck · · Score: 5, Funny

      If they're hot and never take their pants off, what's the problem?

      --
      Property is theft.
    6. Re:That's some sweet stuff by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      We already have that. It's called "beer".

    7. Re:That's some sweet stuff by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      > If they're hot and never take their pants off, what's the problem?

      It's because they're hot that you'll want them to. Therein lies the problem.

    8. Re:That's some sweet stuff by binarylarry · · Score: 4, Funny

      My wife is a supermodel, you insensitive clod!

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      Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
    9. Re:That's some sweet stuff by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Still can't mask the smell though.

    10. Re:That's some sweet stuff by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Then you can use it on yourself :).

  2. Invisibility cloak?!? by Locke2005 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Invisibility cloak?!? Ha! I'll believe it when I see it!

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  3. It's Called . . . by elcorvax · · Score: 5, Funny

    Make up !

  4. I see... by Red+Flayer · · Score: 5, Funny
    This article is full of win.

    Fiddle with an invisibility cloak, and it can make any object look like another, say researchers.

    Great! This is awesome. Now, where did I put my invisibility cloak so I can fiddle with it?

    The researchers have even found a mind-boggling application. Their idea is to create the illusion that a wall has a hole in it, and then use the hole to look through the wall.

    That's not quite as bonkers as it sounds. The wall has to be pretty thin, and what the new device does is allow light to tunnel through the wall in a way that would not ordinarily be possible. Amazing, if it works.

    Yes, the wall must be thin -- thin enough for light to pass through it. In other words, thin enough to see through without the cloak on top of it. So, in order to see through a see-through wall, we put the cloak in front of it, then make the cloak appear to be a hole, through which we can see through the see-through wall. I see.

    These gedanken experiments are nice and all, but I'll believe it when I see it. Or rather, when I don't.

    --
    "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    1. Re:I see... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Funny

      Now where did I put my invisibility cloak..

      It's right in front of you.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    2. Re:I see... by brianc · · Score: 4, Funny

      Their idea is to create the illusion that a wall has a hole in it

      BIG DEAL... Wile E. Coyote was doing this (courtesy of A.C.M.E. Corp.) since
      the 1960's.

      --


      SIGLOST && SIGUNUSED && SIGQUIT
  5. One of these things... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    ... is not like the other.

  6. But can they make it bigger on the inside? by mc1138 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Or travel through time and space?

  7. Re:Doesnt sound like much? by shaitand · · Score: 4, Funny

    The only way to do it is one step at a time, so I think I'll start by getting myself a piece.

  8. SETI by rodarson2k · · Score: 3, Funny

    So now we finally have a realistic explanation for the lack of interaction with alien life forms. They've all developed illusion cloaks to protect their spacecraft and planets and everything. They look like paperclips and rubber bands. And chapstick. That's why they're always disappearing and re-appearing.

    1. Re:SETI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      [quote]So now we finally have a realistic explanation for the lack of interaction with alien life forms. They've all developed illusion cloaks to protect their spacecraft and planets and everything. They look like paperclips and rubber bands. And chapstick. That's why they're always disappearing and re-appearing.[/quote]

      Actually it's called an S.E.P. field. You can only see them from the corner of your eye. :)

    2. Re:SETI by TomGreenhaw · · Score: 2, Funny

      Amazingly, they all survive eating one half of a pair of socks.

      --
      Greed is the root of all evil.
    3. Re:SETI by bennomatic · · Score: 3, Funny

      I always knew Clippy was out-of-this-world!

      --
      The CB App. What's your 20?
    4. Re:SETI by LuxMaker · · Score: 2, Funny

      Great. Now all you pencil neck geeks can look like Tom Cruise now. You can emerge from your mother's basement. Victorious!

      --
      I regret that I only have one mod point to give per post.
  9. Re:Military applications by Locke2005 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Man, if only I had one of these as a kid... I would have been the undisputed champion at hide-and-go-seek!!!

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  10. Re:Doesnt sound like much? by John+Hasler · · Score: 1, Funny

    > We're about as close to achieving a usable cloak of illusion as we are to achieving
    > world piece...

    Hardly. We have a sketchy, highly speculative theory for a cloak of illusion. I wouldn't even say were about as close to achieving world peace as we are to achieving
    faster than light travel.

    World piece, on the other hand, is something else entirely. Perhaps it's related to whirled peas?

    --
    Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
  11. Re:Doesnt sound like much? by brkello · · Score: 3, Funny

    You are thinking too small. Just think what the porn industry could do with it!

    --
    Support a great indie game: http://www.abaddon360.com
  12. Re:Forget rocket launchers and tanks.. by cailith1970 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Why would women want to make themselves invisible in the locker room? Oh, right...! :)

    --
    I intend to live forever, or die trying. - Groucho Marx
  13. Re:Doesnt sound like much? by garlicbready · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'd prefer to make a tank look like a Volkswagen beetle. just imagine the field of battle, a swarm of beetle against beetle firing tank shells at one another
    "Sarge it looks like they're bringing out the heavy artillery, I can spot 3 Ford Escorts's and what looks like postman pat's van in the distance"

    It'd be great as a car alarm / defense system, one click of a button and the car changes from a Ferrari into a Robin Reliant (let's face it no-one's going to steal one of those)

  14. Paperclips in space? by rHBa · · Score: 2, Funny

    If I saw a disappearing and re-appearing paperclip while looking into space through a telescope I think I'd notice...

    1. Re:Paperclips in space? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      If I saw a disappearing and re-appearing paperclip while looking into space through a telescope I think I'd notice...

      Hi, it looks like you are trying to make an astronomical discovery. Would you like to...

  15. Re:So... by larry+bagina · · Score: 2, Funny

    In that case, it could keep David Copperfield in business.

    --
    Do you even lift?

    These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  16. Re:Military applications by matrim99 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Man, if only I had one of these as a kid... I would have been the undisputed champion at hide-and-go-seek!!!

    I'll bet you would be. And you'd always happen to be "hiding" in the girl's locker room.

    Yeah... so would I.

    --
    Right. No, your other right. No, the other other right.
  17. I think it's been done before by crunchly · · Score: 5, Funny

    Because I've definitely seen elephants that weren't really there. And the weird thing is that they were always pink. And only showed up after I've had a few... Hmmmm.

  18. Re:Doesnt sound like much? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I'm more interested in making my time machine stop looking like a police box.

  19. On future uses: by gaderael · · Score: 5, Funny

    Overheard in a girls washroom in the near future:

    "Hey, there's something wrong with the faucet on this sink. No matter how much I turn the knobs, it only dispenses soap!

    --
    Anyone got a light for my sig?
  20. Re:Doesnt sound like much? by Ambiguous+Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    That's because there's no such thing as a cloak of illusion. It's a Hat of Disguise. Sheesh.

    --
    Their may be a grammatical error, misspeling, or evn a typo in this post.
  21. Re:Doesnt sound like much? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    ..or a rocket launcher to look like a stack of pipes on satellite photos.

    Or vice versa.

    So you want a satellite photo on a stack of pipes to look like a rocket launcher??

  22. Dude? by PPH · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yeah?

    You remember those mousetraps you put out yesterday?

    Yeah. What about them?

    Well, there's an elephant caught in one.

    No shit?

    Dude. What kind of cheese are you using?

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  23. Re:Doesnt sound like much? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Spah's sappin' mah sentry!

  24. Re:Doesnt sound like much? by theheadlessrabbit · · Score: 2, Funny

    Why make a tank look like a heavy truck or a rocket launcher look like a stack of pipes when you could make them look like just another rock?

    a rock? i was thinking more along the lines of making the tank look like a tree, and loading it up with armor piercing shells. combine a few of those with some prism tanks, and the only thing to worry about are soviet blimps.

    --
    -I only code in BASIC.-
  25. Re:Amazing magic tricks? by FiloEleven · · Score: 4, Funny

    Are you really all that amazed by "Wow! That guy bought a product and used it! On stage!"?!?

    I don't know...does it run Linux?

  26. Re:Doesnt sound like much? by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Iron Curtain READY!

    Oh noez!11 *Weeeeeeep*

    --
    Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
  27. Re:Doesnt sound like much? by omnipresentbob · · Score: 2, Funny

    I dunno. I've played Civilization IV, and I've seen tanks get beat up by archers or swordsmen...