Afternoon:
13°c
Invisibility cloak? We can see it happening, say scientists
Mark Prigg, Science and Technology Editor12.11.09
It may sound like something from a Harry Potter book, but London researchers were today given the go-ahead for a £4.9million project to create a real invisibility cloak.
In JK Rowling's stories, the young wizard uses his cloak to move around his school unseen.
Today, researchers at Imperial College said such a garment could soon become a reality. They hope to create a cloak from a new material that can manipulate light.
Normally, when light hits an object, it bounces off the surface and into the eye, making the object visible. The invisibility cloak made from "metamaterial" would work by "grabbing hold" of light waves and making them flow smoothly around an object, in the same way that water in a river flows round a stick.
Putting the cloak on would render the wearer invisible to the human eye.
The team at Imperial College say the metamaterial could have a range of other applications, including creating super-sensitive microscopes and airport security sensors that can spot tiny amounts of chemicals. However, they admit the Harry Potter cloak is likely to generate the most interest.
Sir John Pendry, who is leading the project, which is being funded by the Leverhulme Trust and will be carried out with the University of Southampton, said: "We've shown that an optical invisibility cloak is theoretically possible - the big challenge now is to build it."
Reader views (4)
I really want one of those.
- Dan Simon, London
Graham,
The simple answer is this would be something the military would be very interested in and it wouldn't surprise me if they, in particular the US, haven't been researching this for years. There are already capes, which can hide somebody's thermal signature this is the next logical step.
Alternatively it would come in handy for your professional burglar!!!
- Mark, South-East London
What is learned from this research and development will find uses in yet more research, and so on. Like just about everything else, this is not a dead end product, just a stepping stone to the next idea and/or application.
- Rogan, Irving
Apart from reducing the number of computer graphics in future Harry Potter films, what would be the practical applications of this? Sounds like a waste of time and money to me.
- Graham Rodhouse, Helmond, Netherlands
