Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Invisibility Cloak Created In 3-D

Posted by kdawson on from the can-you-see-me-now dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Scientists have created the first device to render an object invisible in three dimensions. The 'cloak,' described in the journal Science (abstract; full text requires login), hid an object from detection using light of wavelengths close to those that are visible to humans. Previous devices have been able to hide objects from light travelling in only one direction; viewed from any other angle, the object would remain visible. This is a very early but significant step towards a true invisibility cloak." The "object" hidden in this work was a bump one micrometer high. The light used was just longer than the wavelengths our eyes detect. To get a visible-light cloak, the features of the cloaking metamaterial would need to be reduced in size from 300 nm to 10 nm.

14 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. Um... by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 4, Funny

    I don't mean to complain, but it would be nice to have a picture.

    Even if the object is invisible...

    1. Re:Um... by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 4, Funny

      ...it would be nice to have a picture...

      You realize that the object is only 1 micrometer, and the cloak only 300nm,
      but here you go (photo) --> [ ]

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    2. Re:Um... by camperdave · · Score: 4, Funny

      I can't see it.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
  2. Diplomatic Nightmare by EvanED · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oh man, wait 'till the Romulans hear about this.

    1. Re:Diplomatic Nightmare by leuk_he · · Score: 3, Funny

      Being invisible sounds ok, until you realize that with perfect invisibility you will be effective blind. That will end non military uses you had in mind.

    2. Re:Diplomatic Nightmare by GNUALMAFUERTE · · Score: 3, Funny

      Or you can use a FLIR camera (Thermal). Off course, it's not good to look at naked ladies, but good enough to move around.

      --
      WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
  3. Oblig ... by krou · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nothing to see here, move along ...

    --
    'If Christ had tweeted the sermon on the mount, it might have lasted until nightfall.' - John Perry Barlow
  4. Factor 30 by Rob+Kaper · · Score: 3, Informative

    A factor 30 in wavelength difference is not "just longer" than visible light nor "close to" it. Still, impressive work. And surely, they'll get closer and closer. But cloaking a micrometer high bump is still a few pathways away from Klingon tech.

  5. Who's sig is that again? by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Ha! Invisibility Cloak? I'll believe it when I see it!"

    For some reason Locke comes to mind...

  6. Re:What good could come from invisibility? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sex in public places.

  7. Re:Yo Mamma... by swanzilla · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ... so far not even a 3d cloak could hide her!

    I think you're doing it wrong.

    --
    0 = 1 + e^(Alt something)
  8. This was actually much easier than it sounds... by RapmasterT · · Score: 3, Insightful

    all it really took to accomplish "Invisibility Cloak Created In 3D", was to redefine the terms "invisibility", "cloak" and "created" in new, creative ways that fit what they actually did.

  9. Re:What good could come from invisibility? by Sir_Lewk · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why does science need a reason? Once we have this stuff people will dream up creative aplications you or I could never have dreamed of.

    --
    "linux is just DOS with a UNIX like syntax" -- Galactic Dominator (944134)
  10. Re:What good could come from invisibility? by shadowrat · · Score: 3, Funny

    are you really having sex in public if nobody can see you?