Invisibility cloaks might be real?
Oh, now, THIS is interesting:
Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak and "Star Trek’s" cloaking device are considered science fiction, but Caltech researchers
announced Thursday they have devised a way to refract light that could lead to the development of such invisibility tools.
Researchers said they have developed a way to make visible light travel in the opposite direction that it normally bends when passing from one material to another — a process known as negative refraction. The process could be used
to construct optical microscopes for seeing things as small as molecules, or even bend light to render objects invisible, according to the researchers.Physics researcher Henri Lezec explained that when a pencil is placed in a glass of water at an angle, it appears to bend upward and outward if viewed from above. The effect is the result of light dispersing differently by separate materials, such as the water in the glass and the air outside it, he said.
But physicists believe optical materials could be developed that would make the pencil appear to bend at the same angle, but in the opposite direction.
The Caltech development takes advantage of a field of study called plasmonics, which involves the "squeezing" of light to create negative refraction.
Jennifer Dionne, a graduate student in applied physics, said the breakthrough could have several applications.
"You might be able to see DNA and protein molecules clearly just be looking at them, without having to use a more complicated method like X-ray crystallography," she said.
The possibility of a "invisibility cloak" like the one used by Harry Potter in the popular book and film series would involve a divide that surrounds an object and bends light in such a way that it would be perfectly refocused on the opposite side, rendering the object inside the cloak invisible.
"Of course, anyone inside the cloak would not be able to see out," Professor Harry Atwater said.
The group’s findings are reported in Thursday’s edition of the online publication Science Express.
Tags: harry potter, invisibility cloak
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1 opinion for Invisibility cloaks might be real?
Savannah Cline
Apr 19, 2008 at 10:13
That is sooooooo cool!!!! If they start making them I WANT ONE!!!!!!!!!!!! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLL
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