For the first time, researchers have found a way to make three-dimensional objects invisible. The idea, outlined in the New Journal of Physics, uses a shell of “plasmonic materials” which “present a ‘photo negative’ of the object being cloaked, effectively cancelling it out.” Most efforts similar to this have focused on the “engineering of metamaterials” or “modifying materials to have properties that cannot be found in nature.” This process “allows metamaterials to guide and channel light in unusual ways” but this new method being tested at the University of Texas at Austin “has pulled off the trick in ‘free space,’ making an 18cm-long cylinder invisible to incoming wavelight.” While this testing only works for certain objects and is not currently interchangeable, the “success of this research suggests further work with different wavelengths of light is worth pursuing.”
To learn more visit BBC
