Video: Underwater Nano-Mirage Effect Enables On-Demand Invisibility
Get ready to witness some James Bond-esque, HALO-style active camouflage action. Researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas have cleverly tapped the unique characteristics of carbon nanotubes and the light-bending weirdness of the mirage effect to create a kind of invisibility cloak that can be turned on and off at the flip of a switch. Though not quite ready to be integrated into an Aston Martin (it works best underwater actually), it is a pretty neat trick, and it could someday have a range of applications outside the lab. The cloaking capability is rooted in the mirage effect, the same phenomenon that occurs when temperatures vary greatly over a short distance. That variation in temperature causes light rays to bend toward the viewer's eye rather than bounce off of objects normally. Related ArticlesSome People Talk About Space-Time Invisibility Cloaks. At Cornell, They Built OneSeismic Invisibility Cloak Could Hide Buildings From...