The first functional "cloaking" device reported by Duke University electrical engineers in 2006 worked like a charm, but it wasn't perfect.

Now a member of that laboratory has developed a new design that ties up one of the major loose ends from the original device.

These new findings could be
important in transforming how light or other waves can be controlled or transmitted. Just as traditional wires gave way to fiber optics, the new meta-material could revolutionize the transmission of light and waves.

Because the goal of this type of research involves taming light, a new field of transformational optics has emerged. The results of the Duke experiments were published online Nov. 11 in the journal Nature Materials.

The Duke team has extensive
experience in creating "meta-
materials," human-made objects that have properties often absent in natural ones. Structures incorporating meta-materials can be designed to guide electromagnetic waves around an object, only to have them emerge on the other side as if they had passed through an empty volume of space, thereby cloaking the object.

"In order to create the first cloaks, many approximations had to be made in order to fabricate the intricate meta-materials used in the device," said Nathan Landy, a graduate student working in the laboratory of senior investigator
David R. Smith, William Bevan
Professor of electrical and computer engineering at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering.

"One issue, which we were fully
aware of, was loss of the waves due to reflections at the boundaries of the device," Landy said. He explained that it was much like reflections seen on clear glass. The viewer can see through the glass just fine, but at the same time the viewer is aware the glass is present due to light reflected from the surface of the glass. "Since the goal was to demonstrate the basic principles of cloaking, we didn't worry about these reflections."

Landy has now reduced the occurrence of reflections by using a different fabrication strategy. The original cloak consisted of parallel and intersecting strips of fiberglass
etched with copper. Landy's cloak used a similar row-by-row design, but added copper strips to create a more complicated -- and better performing -- material. The strips of the device, which is about two-feet
square, form a diamond-shape, with the center left empty.

When any type of wave, like light, strikes a surface, it can be either reflected or absorbed, or a combination of both. In the case of earlier cloaking experiments, a small percentage of the energy in the waves was absorbed, but not enough to affect the overall functioning of the cloak.

The cloak was naturally divided into four quadrants. Landy explained the "reflections" noted in earlier cloaks tended to occur along the edges and
corners of the spaces within and
around the meta-material.

"Each quadrant of the cloak tended to have voids, or blind spots, at their intersections and corners with each other," Landy said. "After many calculations, we thought we could correct this situation by shifting each strip so that it met its mirror image at each interface.

"We built the cloak, and it worked," he said. "It split light into two waves which traveled around an object in the center and re-emerged as the single wave with minimal loss due to
reflections."

Landy said this approach could have more applications than just cloaks. For example, meta-materials can "smooth out" twists and turns in fiber optics, in essence making them seem
straighter. This is important, Landy said, because each bend attenuates the wave within it.

The researchers are now working to apply the principles learned in the latest experiments to three dimensions, a much greater challenge than in a two-dimensional device.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121111153931.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29

Wow..Great news

thats hoping the military doesn't hijack the technology before it sees the light of day.
Thanks for the title. 'Ve always had a problem with naming threads

ciphoenix: thats hoping the military doesn't hijack the technology before it sees the light of day.
Thanks for the title. 'Ve always had a problem with naming threads

No problem..

much grammar for a lay man to understand.

i've been saying for years an invisible cloak should be possible....its just a matter of time before i can have my invisible "james bond" car !!!

Wow, it only get's better and better, doesn't it?

&&I'm in my invisible outfit aka Birthday suit

The moment you can bend light from all directions around and over a body, you become invincible. Making it 3-D will be the difficult part though as you can see from the illustration


For those having difficulty understanding the concept, Below is a simplified illustration of how the system works



So Imagine a source of light as shown on the right hand side of this picture emitting light towards the ball object in the centre. We all know light should travel in a straight line as long as it maintains the same medium and is not affected by gravity. so to achieve the perception of invincibility, an object must manage to allow light pass through it without reflecting (that's why air is invincible). This new material as shown in the ball, allows light to move around it and converge back to its straight path after the object. Basically, the object is able to reflect (in actual sense "bend" ) this light in such a way that it converges back to almost its original straight line path behind the object. Hence the "illusion" of invincibility

wow! never knew

while nigerians are still trying to understand why it cannot produce petrol with the crude oil it has,and are still trying to generate electricity..we have been left behind in the race of time

This thread 'll give the atheists more boost about their claims regarding the absence of metaphysical.

small time 5 3-yr old Yoruba boys go soon invent this cloak. make dem no worry we dey come.

Wow, psychopaths will now be even more paranoid than usual. . Nice development though, I guess all the big boys of the world have a new toy. Including the dictator wanna be's and aspiring mass murderer's.

ehie: while nigerians are still trying to understand why it cannot produce petrol with the crude oil it has,and are still trying to generate electricity..we have been left behind in the race of time

where u dey when small girls they invent pi.is generator?

agitator:

where u dey when small girls they invent pi.is generator?

click on the link and ud see i was a strong supporter of the girls,but trust the Nigerian Tribalistic factor,okija,discrediting it because she was Yoruba

Brilliant invention. . . Would love to see an exhibition or demo of some sort. I have been pondering if this was ever possible. Good to hear it is.

Make sense... Its funny how these things discovered/invented are normal in sci-fi movies. I expect someone to come up with a way to defy gravity anytime we please... Wait... I mean, I'd come up with that invention and make Nigeria proud. That's if they don't label it witchcraft or illuminati. Trust Nigerians...

slimming: much grammar for a lay man to understand.

Stop watching home videos all the time, try some ƗƗɪ̣̇ tech films like Star gate Atlantis, prometheus, Star gate universe etc. It will help u alot.

Area_boy: The moment you can bend light from all directions around and over a body, you become invincible. Making it 3-D will be the difficult part though as you can see from the illustration


For those having difficulty understanding the concept, Below is a simplified illustration of how the system works



So Imagine a source of light as shown on the right hand side of this picture emitting light towards the ball object in the centre. We all know light should travel in a straight line as long as it maintains the same medium and is not affected by gravity. so to achieve the perception of invincibility, an object must manage to allow light pass through it without reflecting (that's why air is invincible). This new material as shown in the ball, allows light to move around it and converge back to its straight path after the object. Basically, the object is able to reflect (in actual sense "bend" ) this light in such a way that it converges back to almost its original straight line path behind the object. Hence the "illusion" of invincibility

Let's make it a simple sentence: An invisible object is an object that allows light energy to pass through it without reflection, refraction, absorption and polarization. Examples; Air, Ghost, and me.

We dey busy dey study how holy ghost fire go kill all our enemies! Lol ;DWe dey busy dey study how holy ghost fire go kill all our enemies! Lol

ehie: while nigerians are still trying to understand why it cannot produce petrol with the crude oil it has,and are still trying to generate electricity..we have been left behind in the race of time

We were never in the race my lady

Billyonaire: Let's make it a simple sentence: An invisible object is an object that allows light energy to pass through it without reflection, refraction, absorption and polarization. Examples; Air, Ghost, and me.

Cheeky

alaoeri: This thread 'll give the atheists more boost about their claims regarding the absence of metaphysical.

That would be stupid. You would become visible as soon as we wear our heat-detecting goggles.

For powerful motivational articles written by me. Visit my blog:

www.Paikiegha.mywapblog.com

Billyonaire: Let's make it a simple sentence: An invisible object is an object that allows light energy to pass through it without reflection, refraction, absorption and polarization. Examples; Air, Ghost, and me.

i think in the case of a ghost, its totally different because the inviciblity of a ghost cannot be felt like that of air which can be felt even without been seen.

i guess its beyond wat we tink

All this na the theory they taught us in physics back in the days. Can't believe it's happening.

I think am inlove with a lesbian. What should I do?

Is this part of the dy/dx we learnt in school?
I don't understand anything here

alaoeri: This thread 'll give the atheists more boost about their claims regarding the absence of metaphysical.

metaphysics is just unproven physics. Once proven, it's no longer metaphysics

ITbomb: Is this part of the dy/dx we learnt in school?
I don't understand anything here

its physics bro