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."

Comments

That's some sweet stuff

[Anonymous Coward]

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

Re:That's some sweet stuff

[Anonymous Coward]

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

Re:That's some sweet stuff

[maharb]

Still won't change the pleasure your new elephant can give.

Re:That's some sweet stuff

[Locke2005]

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

Re:That's some sweet stuff

[PopeRatzo]

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.

Re:That's some sweet stuff

[unlametheweak]

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.

Re:That's some sweet stuff

[mqduck]

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

Re:That's some sweet stuff

[Anonymous Coward]

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

Re:That's some sweet stuff

[Anonymous Coward]

> 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.

Re:That's some sweet stuff

[binarylarry]

My wife is a supermodel, you insensitive clod!

Re:That's some sweet stuff

[Anonymous Coward]

Still can't mask the smell though.

Re:That's some sweet stuff

[Anonymous Coward]

Then you can use it on yourself :).

Re:That's some sweet stuff

[Anonymous Coward]

If they are hot just fuck them in the ass. What's the big problem. Ass is ass if they are hot. Just stick your cock in their nice plump rear and call it a night. Fucking prude.

- Wolf Bearclaw

Re:That's some sweet stuff

[Rhinobird]

Therein or thereon?

Re:That's some sweet stuff

[rdnetto]

I don't have a wife, you insensitive clod!

Re:That's some sweet stuff

[10Neon]

Floating elephants would be Identified Flying Objects, and, being elephants, are very comfortably terrestrial. (Assuming you mean "from earth" and not "on the earth" when you say 'terrestrial.') ...So neither the UFO nor ET enthusiasts should rightfully be able to do anything with this.

Re:That's some sweet stuff

[Hurricane78]

He meant it the other way around.

Yeah. *OW*

Re:That's some sweet stuff

[Hurricane78]

Theremin, of course. :P

Re:That's some sweet stuff

[Hurricane78]

You forgot, where the blow-up hole was, have you? ^^

Re:That's some sweet stuff

[YourExperiment]

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

If they never take their pants off, what's the point?

Re:That's some sweet stuff

[rgviza]

Since it affects everything in the area, you would also look like the same supermodel.

That would kill 2 birds with one stone, no pun intended =D

Re:That's some sweet stuff

[VeNoM0619]

Well, since it duplicates the object, you can now have twin supermodels.

Re:That's some sweet stuff

[PopeRatzo]

Having sex with a transvestite or with anyone else is the kind of thing you should enter with knowledge and aforethought.

I don't have a problem with transvestites or trangendered folk, but I hate surprises of any kind. Plus, the worldly man I am today is much different than the numbskull I was at 22.

Invisibility cloak?!?

[Locke2005]

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

Re:Invisibility cloak?!?

[Inschato]

I want to use my mod points on this post, but it's already maxed. :/

It's Called . . .

[elcorvax]

Make up !

Doesnt sound like much?

[voss]

Imagine the ability to make a tank look like a heavy truck at a distance(say to a drone), or a rocket launcher to look like a stack of pipes on satellite photos.

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[Red Flayer]

Ah, but if we're going to imagine making a tank look like a heavy truck, or a rocket launcher looking like a stack of pipes... why not just imagine world peace?

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

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[drinkypoo]

Seems to me like you could just make a small tank look like a heavy truck by hanging some shit on it. Ditto for the rocket launcher situation.

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[shaitand]

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

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[PopeRatzo]

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

Or vice versa.

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[John Hasler]

> 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?

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[brkello]

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

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[chaim79]

Seems to me like you could just make a small tank look like a heavy truck by hanging some shit on it. Ditto for the rocket launcher situation.

Since you have to cover the tank/rocket launcher with this cloak, that's essentially what they're doing.

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[Ihmhi]

I'm sure something like this would be the weapon of choice for agent provacateurs.

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[drinkypoo]

In your scenario, someone makes a lot of money selling some magical mystical shit. In my scenario, they could probably just use fitted covers (maybe with mylar in them so they show up on radar too) with a nice four-color job on them and someone gets to pocket the savings. I guess either way the taxpayer loses.

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[lostguru]

Give pizza chance!

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[unlametheweak]

Seems to me like you could just make a small tank look like a heavy truck by hanging some shit on it. Ditto for the rocket launcher situation.

Less expensive and probably a much easier to attain illusion. Your point however probably wouldn't impress the military Fundies in the advanced research department of DARPA.

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[rHBa]

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?

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[garlicbready]

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)

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[Mishotaki]

I think the army wouls prefer to do the opposite... a fake blitzkrieg would totally trash the enemy morale compared to having a couple trucks shooting at you...

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[unlametheweak]

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?

That sounds like a Monty Pythonesque question. Rocks don't move at 30 MPH!

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[unlametheweak]

Having the battlefield look like a whole battalion of Ross Perots marching toward the front lines would make the enemy drop their weapons and run like hell. There may be some use to this technology.

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[Anonymous Coward]

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

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[youn]

Yes, too small... too big... I believe you're right, for that industry, size does matter

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[rusl]

It would be about 1001 times cheaper to do it with paint, styrofoam, cardboard... the usualy specialy effects. Also it would be less reliable.

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[Ambiguous Coward]

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

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[smoker2]

Maybe you haven't noticed, but trucks are just as likely to be targeted as tanks if they're in the war zone. Where do you think the fuel and ammo come from ?

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[jandoedel]

You mean like the 'Fighting Dukaki' in Futurama?

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[Anonymous Coward]

..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??

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[unlametheweak]

You mean like the 'Fighting Dukaki' in Futurama?

I suppose I need to watch TV more often. When I did a Wikipedia search for 'Fighting Dukaki' the first article that came up was about Michael Dukakis. I'm not sure if that is relevant, ironic, or just the symptoms of a poorly designed search engine.

The second search result; The Fighting Dukaki - Futurama also links to the Michael Dukakis page.

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[SupremoMan]

Yeah I think that is exactly what he meant. What part of this do you have problem comprehending? Your enemy plans to launch a missile attack on your launch site. Do you want him to hit the real thing or a bunch of props?

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[fractoid]

Cue the High Templar's 'Hallucination' ability in StarCraft. Now if only your imaginary tanks had hitpoints...

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[Anonymous Coward]

Spah's sappin' mah sentry!

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[theheadlessrabbit]

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.

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[supernova_hq]

Why not just build a tank that looks like a big truck?

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[RudeIota]

Imagine the ability to make a tank look like a heavy truck at a distance(say to a drone)

While that may work really well with people and detection systems that depend on light, it's probably worth pointing out that these metamaterials will probably have little affect on other methods of detection, such as radar and infrared, for example.

Metamaterials are synthetic substances that can steer light in any way imaginable

As I understand it, Drones have do have infrared cameras (as an example). Of course, that doesn't make much difference if the ground pilot is navigating entirely by the visible light camera and has to switch modes or something, but I'm not really sure how that stuff works. I think it's worth considering, though.

Something else too, I imagine many autonomous systems we have / develop probably don't / won't depend on visible light either.

I wonder how metamaterials affect other, invisible parts of the spectrum?

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[FiloEleven]

If I remember correctly the invisibility cloak that exists (how strange to write that) is for the infrared spectrum. Visible light may be harder because the range is broader, or I could be way off base. It's a gamble!

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[takev]

Robin Reliant makes for a great space shuttle though. Try to find the top gear episode.

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[Psychotic_Wrath]

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)

Its actually Reliant Robin not Robin Reliant. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliant_Robin

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[FreakyGreenLeaky]

+10

Fuck'n aye. My wife has one and I say shoot the fuckers if they invade our home.

They won't hesitate to do the same...

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[Woy]

The disguise cloak will probably be more expensive than a rocket launcher. :)

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[daveime]

Any fool can fix that chameleon circuit if you just try hotwiring the fragment links and superseding the binary binary binary binary binary binary binary binary binary binary binary binary binary binary binary

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[Canazza]

Bottom video :D

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[L4t3r4lu5]

Iron Curtain READY!

Oh noez!11 *Weeeeeeep*

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[TheBogBrushZone]

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

You don't need a cloaking field to do that. Back in 1996 John Major managed to it with something called the "Scott Report".

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[DarkIye]

You realise that a much cheaper way of making a rocket launcher look like a stack of pipes is to put an actual stack of pipes on top of it?

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[an.echte.trilingue]

But the ammunition will be different. When you see a truck, you hit it with High Explosive (HE) or heavy machine gun fire. If you see a tank, you hit it with Kinetic Energy (KE) or High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) rounds.

There is good reason for this. If you hit a tank with something that just explodes and rains shrapnel, the hit will just bounce off, maybe destroying the optics but that is about it. You have to pierce the armor, which you do by hitting it with something very heavy and slender (such as a rod of depleted uranium) traveling at high speed that focuses a bunch of energy on one point. The heat from the collision and spalling from the armor itself then destroys whatever is behind the armor.

This does not work for a truck. If you hit it with a KE round, the round will just sail right through it. If there is nothing vital (the driver, engine, fuel lines, etc) where the KE round happens to pass, then the truck will just keep rolling. That is why you hit it with HE or MG fire. The many small bits of metal from an exploding HE round have a much higher chance of hitting something vital than the single big chunk from a KE round.

As far as a tank is concerned, you usually only get one or two shots at it before it or its buddies start returning fire. If you hit it with the wrong ammunition, he is going to kill you.

It should be noted that the inverse is also true. Making vehicles such as a truck look highly armored increases their survivability in certain situations because AT rounds are rarer than lighter ammunition and an infantry squad with a machine gun is not going attack a tank.

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[Antique Geekmeister]

Isn't it easier, and cheaper, to just have Dick Cheney "supervise" the people collecting data, and help them provide "enhanced" photos for the UN?

Colin Powell's presentation of those smudgey, awful, inaccurate photos to the USA was also a great way for the Republicans to make sure they didn't have to deal with a black candidate from their own party: you could see his career nosediving along with the respect for the US every day as that mess progressed.

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[dkleinsc]

Seems to me like you could just make a small tank look like a heavy truck by hanging some shit on it. Ditto for the rocket launcher situation.

Not only can you do that, Bernard Montgomery's Eighth Army did so at El Alamein back in 1942.

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[FishAdmin]

Rocks don't move at 30 MPH!

They can...if it's Rock 'n' Roll! /ducks

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[omnipresentbob]

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

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[ca111a]

... or nothing look like a bunch of weapons of mass destruction - and start a war against those who supposedly have it! Oh, wait, you don't need a cloak for that...

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[PopeRatzo]

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

Well, if I were a Republican vice-president with extremely bad aim with a shotgun, who wanted to find an excuse to start a war that would enrich me and my friends, I might.

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[amoeba1911]

Then I got a better idea... just get a large cardboard cutout of a truck and stick it on the tank. There you go, instantly makes one object look like another, without fancy technology.

Seriously, I think I just came up with some awesome breakthrough technology. It's inexpensive and might just work wonders. I can imagine it already: an army of tanks disguised as trucks, when the enemy comes to attack the "trucks" with their light vehicles we pound them.

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[Simetrical]

While that may work really well with people and detection systems that depend on light, it's probably worth pointing out that these metamaterials will probably have little affect on other methods of detection, such as radar and infrared, for example.

Visible light is not the only type of light. Radio waves (the mechanism for radar) and infrared are also light.

Visible light is not physically special at all. The electromagnetic spectrum is a continuum, and there's no clear cutoff between (for instance) infrared and visible light. The only reason we can see visible light and not other types is because the light emitted by the Sun happens to peak right around the part of the electromagnetic spectrum we'd call visible green light. There's more visible light on Earth than anything else, and we get the most bang for the buck by being able to see it, in terms of evolution.

AFAIK, though, current models of this kind of thing will only work for particular ranges of frequencies. (Last I heard they'd only gotten down to microwave and infrared, and hadn't gotten to visible light yet. That's why they give diagrams and not simple photographs.) So you could make a cloak that works for red light, or yellow light, or purple light, or if you're really lucky maybe most of the visible spectrum. But the same cloak won't protect you from infrared, or radar (which uses radio waves or microwaves). I don't see why you couldn't nest them, though.

Of course, if the cloak only affected visible light, it would be a simple thing to equip every US soldier with infrared goggles and lamps. You can get them pretty cheap, AFAIK.

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[Descalzo]

Here's a cool story:

It's interesting that the Luftwaffe was largely incapable of good reconnaissance at this time, so the bulk of the benefit came from radio traffic and double agents.

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[Descalzo]

Crap. Here's the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Fortitude

I see...

[Red Flayer]

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.

Re:I see...

[PopeRatzo]

Now where did I put my invisibility cloak..

It's right in front of you.

Re:I see...

[brianc]

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.

Re:I see...

[SupremoMan]

The researchers call this new form of a thin semi-translucent wall "glass."

Re:I see...

[sammyF70]

hmm .. those thin walls with invisibility cloaked holes ... I think I have a name for them : "Windows" (and I'm not refering to the operating system whose makers equate transparency with communism by the way)

ugg

[Dyinobal]

I hate all these cloaking articles they give really great 'examples' of what could be done with such technology but the actual news is much more mundane. In fact from the small freaking article it seems they have a math proof probably not even a prototype yet.

Re:ugg

[TooManyNames]

It's even better when their great examples are like this:

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.

They further restrict their example by saying that the wall would also need to be thin. Now, I'm sure that several other much better examples abound but really, why highlight the reinvention of the window?

Re:ugg

[smaddox]

That is because the people writing these articles have no idea what they are talking about. You can't make a mouse look like an elephant, unless you are dealing with waves much longer than an elephant, in which case that would be like making a baseball look like an elephant sized baseball, and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the balls or mice or elephants. Only the size of the shadow would have relevance.

Metamaterials can only cloak objects smaller than the wavelength of light you are dealing with. Once you start getting to half wavelength objects the cloaking turns to crap, and only works for a very very thin bandwidth. That wouldn't be very helpful for visible cloaking, because we see a wide range of wavelengths.

What metamaterials MAY be useful is radar cloaking. There are also applications useful for scientific instruments such as NSOM (Near-field Scanning Optical Microscope), in which you can cloak the probe so that you do not interfere with the light you are trying to measure.

Metamaterials are very interesting, but not for the layman. Move along.

Re:ugg

[Tokerat]

Once you start getting to half wavelength objects the cloaking turns to crap, and only works for a very very thin bandwidth. That wouldn't be very helpful for visible cloaking, because we see a wide range of wavelengths.

What metamaterials MAY be useful is radar cloaking.

Can't someone just invent wide-band radar to get around that?

Re:ugg

[Simetrical]

Metamaterials can only cloak objects smaller than the wavelength of light you are dealing with.

That makes no sense. It's a standard principle of optics that light can't even resolve things lower than its wavelength, or at least not usefully. You can't inspect molecules with visible light, for instance. So what would it mean to cloak such things?

Re:ugg

[smaddox]

You are half right. The full story is that the details are not visible in the far-field. However, if you move into the near-field you can still resolve details smaller than the wavelength of light you are using. This is the principle behind technologies such as NSOM and near-field photolithography, among others.

From a classical viewpoint, there are evanescent fields generated by the details that fall of exponentially. The interesting thing about meta materials, is that you can amplify these fields so that they are much stronger than they started out. Then, on the other side of the material, they will decay down to their original amplitude. This doesn't break power conservation because evanescent waves do not carry power. None-the-less, you can then put a sensor at the point where the evanescent fields are the original amplitude, and resolve beyond the diffraction limit. Power is transmitted because the sensor reflects part of the evanescent waves, and two evanescent waves with a phase difference leads to the transmission of power. This is the concept of Pendry's Super Lens.

Cloaking operates on a different, but similar, principle. However, as I previously stated, cloaking is being researched more for application to radar than for visible light. True cloaking would eliminate the radar cross-section in any direction. However, for most radar it is enough to eliminate backscattering, which should be significantly easier.

Okay, I'm rambling...

Re:ugg

[smaddox]

Yes. However, until we try, we won't know if it is possible to counter-act wide-band radar, too.

Metamaterials are a relatively new field. There is still much to be understood.

Prior Art

[RDW]

No need for all that mucking about with physics - they just need to hire this student:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5261752/Artist-creates-invisible-car.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/8030766.stm

One of these things...

[Anonymous Coward]

... is not like the other.

Magic: yes or no?

[MrEricSir]

Assuming this is real, does this qualify as magic?

Re:Magic: yes or no?

[rossdee]

it makes it 'sufficiemtly advamced technology' - if it works.

Re:Magic: yes or no?

[againjj]

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Re:Magic: yes or no?

[Deadstick]

If you don't understand how it works, yes.

rj

Re:Magic: yes or no?

[Cheney]

Ask your local, neighborhood religion leader!

Re:Magic: yes or no?

[Poja]

It's not magic michael, it's an illusion!

Re:Magic: yes or no?

[JhohannaVH]

Since when does technology != magic? :D

Re:Magic: yes or no?

[SwordsmanLuke]

At what point do things stop being magical?

Seriously - we're communicating via the power of harnessed lightning.
Which is being directed and manipulated within carefully etched stones.
Which are in turn bound by commands uttered in strange languages that none speak and relatively few can write (much less write well).

I think "magic" is in the eye of the beholder.

Also, it'd be awesome if my job title was "Machinalexic Mage."

But can they make it bigger on the inside?

[mc1138]

Or travel through time and space?

Re:Military applications

[owlnation]

While what you say is true, it's kind of sad that people tend to first think of what military uses technology can be put to.

It's not like someone thinks, for example, what a great kids toy you could make with this tech.

Any small wonder we have wars? Rather than have a LOT more fun.

SETI

[rodarson2k]

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.

Re:SETI

[Anonymous Coward]

[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. :)

Re:SETI

[TomGreenhaw]

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

Re:SETI

[bennomatic]

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

Re:SETI

[LuxMaker]

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

Re:SETI

[pintpusher]

It is not unreasonable to surmise that if we are able to develop this kind of technology (big if...) prior to developing reasonable technologies for enabling interstellar travel (whether some kind of suspended animation, long term survival technologies, or "warp drive"), then other civilizations may have as well. Thus it follows that any civilization with the technology to visit us would likely have the technology to observe us while remaining unobserved.

So, though your comment is modded funny, I think it's pretty insightful.

Re:SETI

[Eli Gottlieb]

Well that sounds nice. We're developing no-ships before we develop prescience. The human race is saved!

Re:SETI

[fractoid]

Why the thing about pencil necks anyway? Does anyone actually WANT huge trapezius muscles, making them look like a smaller, less attractive version of The Hulk? Honestly, I see some guys at the gym who've built up their traps and they look fugly compared to the guys with decent balanced musculature. If you're going to insult nerd physique, at least aim your nasty remarks at the pidgeon chest, cooked spaghetti arms, scrawny legs or perma-keyboard hunch.

Re:SETI

[agola]

Why the thing about pencil necks anyway? ... I see some guys at the gym who've built up their traps and they look fugly compared to the guys with decent balanced musculature.

There's some confusion here, the comparison between huge traps and balanced musculature (which I'm in complete agreement with you about) doesn't address pencil necks at all, but in context it sounds like you think pencil necks are included under "balanced musculature".

Pencil necks != decent balanced musculature, and look at least as bad as oversized traps (often even worse).

Re:SETI

[daveime]

It was an Underpants Gnomes franchise, but someone misread the instructions.

Re:SETI

[Thing 1]

I remember fondly taping Dr. Demento in my teens (because I couldn't stay up that late), and Freddie Blassie was one of my favorite artists. Thanks for the memory. And to your other responder: "Pencil Neck Geek" was a song of his. I also recall Ogden Edsel's "Dead Puppies" (aren't much fun); and the good Doctor himself's "Shaving Cream".

Re:Military applications

[Locke2005]

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

vaporware

[j1mmy]

The summary is bad enough, talking about invisibility cloaks as if they actually exist. This and the prior work by the team are nothing more than computer models. I'm not discounting the importance of the research, just the way in which it's framed. We don't have such cloaks yet and likely won't for a long time.

Re:vaporware

[fractoid]

Actually, rudimentary invisibility cloaks do exist. The illusion cloak presented is a computer model showing that it's theoretically possible, but I agree that it should probably be phrased as "it may be possible that..." rather than as "hay gusy look wut i did".

Re:Forget rocket launchers and tanks..

[cailith1970]

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

It's made out of unobtanium

[TomGreenhaw]

Acording to the article, "The trick is to create a material in which the permittivity and permeability are complementary to the blah, blah, blah" In other words the creation of a material that doesn't (or cannot in our universe) exist. IMHO, a work of science fiction expressed in the language of mathematics.

Re:It's made out of unobtanium

[John Hasler]

> In other words the creation of a material that doesn't (or cannot in our universe)
> exist.

Read up on metamaterials. It's already been done, though not in the exact form these guys suggest.

Re:It's made out of unobtanium

[TomGreenhaw]

The most authoritative articles I read always seem to include things like: "Scientists not involved in the work said the plans appear feasible but that they would require more-advanced substances than currently exist." Maybe someday, but these guys are grossly overly optimistic on our ability to make materials that have these characteristics. These ideas are in the realm of transporters and faster than light travel - maybe in theory possible undewr very restrictive circumstances, but so far from practical application that it's kind laughable.

Re:It's made out of unobtanium

[Psyborgue]

It would have to be view independent. That's not possible, nor is sampling the necessary background from the exact perspective you would need to to generate an inverse. Essentially, the invisibility cloth would need to be smart enough to know exactly where you are and generate the exact image for *each eye*. Projecting two different images to two different locations from the same surface would require the surface to be dynamic and holographic. computation of the inverse image would have to be instant and perfect. Such computational power, materials, cameras, etc, do not exist and likely never will.

Re:Doesnt sound like much? Visualize W

[davidsyes]

hirled peas... (Whirled Peas)....

Anyway, this will not work well against satellite inspection because most objects of interest to satellite-launching governments already have HUGE databases of what known matter gives off what kind of thermal/visual/shadow patterns at various times of day, season, and weather conditions. SOME things might cause doubt, and even consternation and even upset and assault timetable....

But, none of this cloak and swagger trickery/deception will work up close when an RPG or long-range targeting laser or a grenade or locally-induced dust storm will expose these gimmicks.

Explosions against bodies will produce fluids and pieces strewn about. Targeting lasers will either be absorbed, or be refracted/reflected. Grenades will do the first. Dust storms will screw with the transmitters, and if the snooping opponent sends in robot flies/UAVs, these can test for reaction at thresholds humans would respond to, this being to sniff out special forces who SHOULD be unnerved by snakes or bees slithering & hissing or buzzing about their sniping or scouting positions. If REAL troops are to be screwed with, drop itching powder or snakes on their positions. If they aren't supposed to BE there, then, fuck, they aren't supposed to BE there.

The Emperor's New Clothes

[unlametheweak]

Your post reminds me of The Emperor's New Clothes

I'm not trying to sound cynical here, but I think it's an interesting point; spending lots of money on something you can't see and that has a lot of dubious but theoretical value.

Re:The Emperor's New Clothes

[fractoid]

You can bet your invisible boots that if the Emperor's New Clothes had (while obviously only being visible to "very wise people") nonetheless kept the Emperor warm and dry, that story would have ended differently. Probably with research into military applications.

Paperclips in space?

[rHBa]

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

Re:Paperclips in space?

[Anonymous Coward]

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...

Re:So...

[larry bagina]

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

Poor Girl's Version...

[UnknownSoldier]

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/05/04/art-student-creates.html

Re:Military applications

[matrim99]

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.

Pics or it didn't happen!

[Cloud K]

IMO, a theory is not news. Especially with something like this, which just screams out "pics plz!". A Youtube video of it being thrown over the object or something would at least be an attempt to back it up, even though it's easily faked.

Amazing magic tricks?

[Anonymous Coward]

A peaceful application would be for magicians, since these could lead to amazing magic tricks.

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

Re:Amazing magic tricks?

[FiloEleven]

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?

Re:Amazing magic tricks?

[steelfood]

That guy bought a product and used it! On stage!

Do you expect him to pop it into the production environment without any testing?

And in other news...

[hyades1]

researcher Yun Lai, has been seen hanging around the Lost and Found Office at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology with a VERY pissed-off expression on his face.

Wear a sandwich board

[dougwhitehead]

Remove the waveform gobblygook and the article essentially says make the light look like the light coming from another object.

Sounds about like wearing a picture.

One of the deathly hallows down 2 to go

[jgoodstein]

Any one seen the elder wand or perhaps the stone? Keep this technology away from he who shall not be named please I implore you !!!

I think it's been done before

[crunchly]

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.

Re:I think it's been done before

[fractoid]

I have yet to see a pink elephant regardless of how much I've had to drink. That provesh I'm not alcholholicksh.

Re:I think it's been done before

[nappingcracker]

When I see a pink elephant, I drink.

Delicious! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delirium_Tremens_(beer)

Grain of road salt here

[unlametheweak]

Too bad that the students car was recently smashed to bits by numerous individuals attempting to illegally park in (what looks like) a pedestrian no-parking zone.

On future uses:

[gaderael]

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!

Re:On future uses:

[Hurricane78]

You know that it does not work that way, do you? I hope... or else I really do not know what you are? Because everybody knows that there are no girls on the net. And well, if you were a guy... Have you changed your underpants recently (last two decades)? ^^

Re:On future uses:

[Terrasque]

He overheard it while he was busy dispensing soap.

Re:On future uses:

[Hurricane78]

Then I wish him to get well soon, with that nasty penis twist-off injury. :P

Old news

[TheMeuge]

Hamas and Hizballah have been using this technology for years. They've successfully made troop carriers look like ambulances, and armories look like hospitals, for many years now.

This trick works especially well if the reflected light passes through a BBC lens.

Nice

[Fear the Clam]

So any object within that region of space, a mouse say, takes on the appearance of an elephant.

Nice. They'll be making condoms out of this stuff when?

Re:So...

[epr]

More like put him out of business, who needs illusionists when you can make your car disappear by yourself. Which also would make this the perfect thing for insurance fraud.

Make a Mouse look like an Elephant

[Siker]

I know, why don't we call it something easier than "illusion cloak." Something like... a photograph of an elephant!

metamaterials are exactly what they claim to be...

[salesbot]

...vaporware! all the peer reviewed work is hilariously narrow band, to the point that the claims of this article (and most others) equate to 'we have this flashlight, so obviously we can build HD tv and put a picture of you as a baby on it that would fool your mother.' LAME.

Dude?

[PPH]

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?

Re:{{notability}}

[fractoid]

True, but the invisibility cloak, at least, exists. If you moved your 'painting' around on the wall and it acted as a window into a larger scene, it would indeed be like this cloak.

As for the black hole thing, I presume that the red matter has to be heated to a certain temperature in order to 'detonate'. The fact that the planet's core is probably no hotter than the capsule would become on impact is a mere technicality and the big drill was cool, ok? :P

(Did anyone else see the mysterious 'red matter' and instantly think of the 'allotropic iron' from the Lensman series? This was also a red liquid which could be used as a near-infinite power source.)

Silly rabbit

[TiggertheMad]

In fact from the small freaking article it seems they have a math proof probably not even a prototype yet.

What makes you think there are no prototypes yet? Just because they didn't show you photos? If you were in the military, wouldn't you fly out to see these guys ASAP when you heard this? Would you give them large amounts of cash if it looked probable? Would you keep a very tight lid on any prototypes that they produced?

I am not a believer in conspiracy theories, but I would be very disappointed in the collective militaries of the world if SOMEONE wasn't working with these guys on making this happen.

Re:Silly rabbit

[daveime]

Just because they didn't show you photos

Of an invisibility cloak ?

Re:Silly rabbit

[daveime]

Yes because that's something *no one* would ever think to Photoshop. Are you really that naive ?

If so, I've got half a bridge to sell you ... it's actually a full bridge, but half of it is covered with an invisibility cloak.

Is this the nail in the coffin for paper bags?

[hamburgler007]

World, say hello to the new John Holmes!

Re:They could make

[fractoid]

Seems to me that this tech would make the cloaked object more expensive for the same power, not less. :P

SEP field

[Burning Plastic]

Someone else's problem field...

I seem to remember it would have saved a sciento-magician's life if he had actually used one instead of getting some friends' friends' friends' friends' and some rather less good friends of theirs' major stellar trucking company to put in what is recognised as the hardest night's work in history...

Re:SEP field

[Burning Plastic]

sorry - SomeBODY else's problem field.

Re:Obama's wearing it - he looks like Bush!

[daveime]

I'm at a loss to understand why the release of pictures is so important. Everyone with a grain of common sense *knows* it's been happening, and probably a lot worse at various worldwide CIA invisible detainment facilities.

Seems like just another media quest for ratings, "now with *exclusive" 1.3 megapix cellphone pictures of some brown person hung upside down".

What bothers me is more the fact that they took the pictures in the first place ? Official records of illegal activities ? Mementoes for someone's military service scrapbook ?

Surely the whole point of doing something illegal is NOT to get caught doing it ?

the TARDIS had one!

[wolverine1999]

The Doctor's TARDIS had one of those illusion cloak devices - a chamelion device - but it got stuck in the shape of a Police box!

Look in the sky

[The Outlander]

Is it a bird or is it a plane or Is it a bird or is it a plane or Is it a bird or is it a plane or Is it a bird or is it a plane or Is it a bird or is it a plane or is someone messing with the cloak?

Invisibility schmizability

[ObitMan]

What I wouldn't give for a Holocaust Cloak!

New meaning to the term

[bruceslog]

If this cloak makes a mouse look the size of an elephant, then this cloak

should give new meaning to the term "WonderBra".

Re:{{notability}}

[Chibi Merrow]

Actually I forgot about allotropic iron... I immediately thought of "red mercury" and started laughing. Apparently I was the only person that got that...

Someone has to say it...

[AZScotsman]

Damn Romulans!

so... not really

[cool_story_bro]

from TFA:

The trick is to create a material in which the permittivity and permeability are complementary to the values in a nearby region of space containing the mouse we want to hide. "Complementary" means that the material cancels out the effect that the mouse has on a plane lightwave passing through. So a plane wave would be bent by the mouse but then bent back into a plane as it passes through the complementary material, making the mouse disappear.

The second step is to then distort this plane wave in the way that an elephant would. This means creating transformational material that distorts a plane lightwave in the same way as an elephant. So anybody looking at this mouse would instead see an elephant.

so really, instead of making the mouse look like an elephant, it's making the mouse look like nothing, then the nothing look like a elephant, leading me to think that you would see an elephant regardless of the presence of the mouse. This is a high-tech version of a clear sheet with an elephant drawn on it

Million + dollar idea!

[Sardonic1]

That will be the least the guy makes, that makes woman's outfits out of this, so she won't ask..... "Does this make my ass look fat?"