Invisibility... One of man's most wildest dreams!
Just show me one who as a kid did not imagine himself being invisible
at will...
Kicking the butts of your teacher in elementary school who just gave
you a slap because you kept arguing loudly with your friend Bob whether
Nietzsche's influence in modern existentialism was of a far greater
importance than that of Christianity's?!
And now it seems that technology will make the leap and bring this dream
into reality! (by this dream, I do not mean just kicking your
teacher's butts without being caught :-)
Seriously now, to get an idea about how the technology
in this sector has advanced, just read the following (source http://optics.org/):
The idea of an "invisibility cloak" has made the leap from science fiction
books to an international patent application. Ray Alden of North Carolina
is attempting to patent a "three dimensional cloaking process and apparatus"
for concealing objects and people (WO 02/067196).
Basically, the idea hinges on carefully mimicking background lighting
conditions to help render an object invisible, similar to how a chameleon
blends in with its surroundings. The rear and front surfaces of an
object are covered with a material containing an array of photodetectors
and light emitters respectively.
The photodetectors on the rear surface are used to record the intensity
and color of a source of illumination behind the object. The light emitters
on the front surface then generate light beams that exactly mimic the
same measured intensity, color and trajectory. The result is that
an observer looking at the front of the object appears to see straight through
it.
So, next time you get your butts kicked or you find an invisible man sleeping in your bed, before you call Ghostbusters remember this writeup :-)
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