No, really.
A team of American and British researchers has made a Cloak of Invisibility.
Well, OK, it’s not perfect. Yet. But it’s a start, and it did a pretty good job of hiding a copper cylinder. In this experiment the scientists used microwaves to try and detect the cylinder. Like light and radar waves, microwaves bounce off objects making them visible and creating a shadow, though it has to be detected with instruments. If you can hide something from microwaves, you can hide it from radar – a possibility that will fascinate the military.
[…] The new work points the way for an improved version that could hide people and objects from visible light. Conceptually, the chance of adapting the concept to visible light is good, cloak designer David Schurig said in a telephone interview. But Schurig, a research associate in Duke University’s electrical and computer engineering department, added, “From an engineering point of view it is very challenging.”
Cool.
(via Avo)
Sure, very cool. Like the joint Russian and Indian ICBM that is already stealthy and takes a staggered reentry path that’s darn near impossible to intercept. Add this capability and… we might as well give up on the Strategic Defense Initiative and spend the money on gummi bears.
I say we stuff this genie back in the bottle right away! Just tell the rest of the world they can’t look at it. If we pretend it doesn’t exist, it will go away.
Mmmmm… gummi bears.
But won’t this violate our treaty with the Romulens? ;P
Hey, it’s not our fault the Romulans didn’t notice that signing statement Bush stapled to the back of the treaty …
I expect the religious right will site this as another insidious promotion of witchcraft and wizardy by the “Harry Potter” folks, and tell us not to look at the invisible objects for fear of losing our eternal souls.