You've seen it in "Predator." You've gone all starry eyed over it in "Harry Potter." Soon enough, such technology could be within your reach, thanks to groundbreaking research.
"Researchers at University of California, Berkeley, were able to make a small object disappear using an ultra-thin invisibility skin cloak - just 80 nanometers thin," Mashable reported. "It's the first time scientists have been able to achieve this illusion using their technique."
How were the scientists able to achieve the camouflaging effect?
"Led by Xiang Zhang, director of materials science at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the group constructed a thin film consisting of a 50-nanometer-thick layer of magnesium fluoride topped by a varying pattern of tiny, brick-shaped gold antennas, each 30 nanometers thick," LiveScience explained. "The 'bricks' were built in six different sizes, ranging from about 30 to 220 nanometers long and 90 to 175 nanometers wide."
To get an idea on how tiny the gold antennas are, an average human hair strand is around 100,000 nanometers wide.
"The scientists then wrapped up a tiny, irregularly shaped object measuring about 36 microns across, or a bit more than one-thousandth of an inch," the science news source went further. "Shining a light, with a wavelength of 730 nanometers, or near-infrared, they found that it reflected back almost perfectly."
What made this breakthrough remarkable was that the object still remained concealed even as light scattered from the cloak. Previous invisibility cloaks tended to bend light around an object, which means it only is effective in narrow angles. You could still see detect the covered object when you try and walk around it. Also, the reflected light from the cloak could "appear as colors or reflection."
This time, the cloak made was considerably thin and flexible. Plus, the gold antennas "reflect the light in such a way that the light's phase and frequency are both preserved." This means that the new cloak could make things look as if the light hit a "perfect mirror" and effectively hide the object as if it really was not there, edges and all. However, if you walk around the illusion, the trick would be uncovered.
Although the cloak only managed to hide very small objects, Zhang believed that it could be "scaled up to form sheets that can cloak much larger objects," The Guardian noted.
When that happens, however, the cloak could prove to be impractical.
"They are really bulky," he said. "If you wanted to cloak your body, you'd have to carry this thing that's three to four times the size of your body around with you wherever you go."
He, however, pointed out that a feasible application for the cloak would be in cosmetics.
"You can imagine if someone has a fat belly, like me, and he wants to look nice, he could put this layer on and it will look like a six pack," Zhang said.
He later added that the technology could be "very useful" in stealth tech.
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