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        riddles >> general problem-solving / chatting / whatever >> Invisibility
        
(Message started by: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot on Oct 31^st, 2006, 3:24pm)

Title: Invisibility
Post by Whiskey Tango Foxtrot on Oct 31^st, 2006, 3:24pm

This happened about two weeks ago:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5016068.stm

Thoughts?

Title: Re: Invisibility
Post by towr on Oct 31^st, 2006, 3:36pm

As I recall it only works somewhat for microwaves at the moment. But it's hardly perfect cloaking, how much it can be improved is a bit of a question (light moving through the 'cloak' would be slower then the light around it. So with the right frequency modulation you should be able to see it, even if the cloak works otherwise perfectly.)
And of course there's a serious question about whether it would work on anything other than a stationary object. Even aside from exhaust fumes, heat, airholes etc.

Title: Re: Invisibility
Post by Whiskey Tango Foxtrot on Oct 31^st, 2006, 5:00pm

You're right, of course. It only works for radio waves right now and only in two dimensions, but the people behind it believe they can extend the technology to some parts of the visible spectrum. While I too wondered about whether it could be applied to a moving object, I think that so long as the object is moving at speed significantly less than the speed of light, it should still work relatively well. This is absolute conjecture, but it seems plausible.