Scientists close to breakthrough in cloaking technology

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Light-bending material could be science fact not science fiction says professor.

Scientists are on the verge of a breakthrough with an innovative light-bending material which could revolutionise cloaking technologies.

Previously thought to exist purely in the realms of science fiction, Professor David Smith of Duke University, North Carolina has come up with a “metamaterial” which can really make objects invisible.

The metamaterial works by bending waves in the electromagnetic spectrum (like light or radio waves) around an object. As the wave is undisturbed as it bends around the object, it continues on its path as though nothing is there, making the object invisible.

At the moment, the metamaterial exists as 10,000 individual pieces of fibreglass on a circuit board which is little bigger than a computer chip. In a recent lab experiment, the new technology was able to successfully create the impression that a bump in a mirrored surface was flat, disguising the raised flaw in the mirror.

The potential for such cloaking devices is huge. The most obvious capabilities are for tactical military units which could potentially make invisible tanks and aid military personnel to become stealth soldiers.

Should such a technology become widely usable, then the famous invisible Aston Martin which was a feature of the James Bond film Die Another Day may become a reality of the not too distant future.

Professor Smith said that beyond military applications, the cloaking technology could be used to eliminate static noise from mobile phone communications.

“Cloaking technology could be used to make obstacles that impede communications signals ‘disappear,’” said Professor Smith.

The experiments of the metamaterial have produced some very exciting results, but the Professor warned that making the material practically applicable was a challenge that would take years.

“This latest structure does show clearly there is a potential for cloaking – in the science fiction sense – to become science fact at some point,” he said.