Science, nanotechnology, and the cloaking device

General Forums Off-topic Chat
1

http://www.physorg.com/news67787896.html
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn9227-physicists-draw-up-plans-for-real-cloaking-device.html

I first heard of a cloaking device to see if possible in popular science a few months ago and it had the dial all the way to the “keep dreaming” side. But then I find these articles on how to affect the flow of light or wavelengths to shield an object from that wavelength.

The new scientist article shows a person who says he may have an optical cloaker ready within the next decade and at physorg shows a way of using a material with gold nanobars to block visible light.

But once these ideas become reality which it looks like eventually will i’m almost certain the military will jump at it.:wink:

2

Man, that would probibly enforce the possiblility of using nuclear weapons on other countries, because they don’t know were their enemies are.

3

Man Icoxo, your posts are the best on the forum!:smiley:
I read in a magazine about a coat that makes you invisible.(kinda)
The coat is woven of fiber optic threads and has a camera somewhere on the back. It then takes video and displays it in real-time on the front of the coat.
Not quite a cloaking device, but it looks cool, and it has really been made.
It’s not for sale yet though.:frowning:

4

Ulf Leonhardt, a theoretical physicist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

He was one of my professors at uni. It’s a small world.

5

What’s wrong with that? Would rather have hamas get them??

Do I sense anti-military sentiment…:confused:

(Unless of course you live in Russia or China or some place similar if you know what I mean :D)

6

Where did you get the thought I want hamas to have it?

I’m not against the military, it would be good for the US military to have it.

7

Nevermind then…:D:o

8

Hah,

It’s definitelly possible (anything is possible) but, I don’t think you guys realize just how difficult something like this would be to pull off on such a scale.

Think about it; You have to be able to manipulate the properties of nanoscale metamaterials constantly, in order to have them curve photons (light particles) at just the right wavelenghts so as to render an object invisible.

Would anyone like to take a guess at what kind of a microprocessor a constant calculation like that would require? Also, the kind of mechanism that would efficiently manipulate nanoscale metamaterials based on that calculation would be something unbelievably complex.

PS: Great post Icoxo.