Scientists Sneak Up on Invisibility Cloak

Material shields object from view in all directions
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 19, 2010 8:12 AM CDT
Scientists Sneak Up on Invisibility Cloak
Scientists say they're closer to a so-called invisibility cloak.   (Shutter Stock)

German scientists say they have successfully used a new material to render an object invisible in three dimensions for the first time. Previous efforts at so-called invisibility cloaks could only hide objects from light coming in one direction. The material changes the behavior of light rays to "transform space," the lead researchers tells the BBC.

The material—made up tiny crystals with air spaces in between—shielded the object from infrared light, and the team is now trying to recreate the effect in the spectrum of light visible to humans. The object cloaked was minuscule, but scientists say the technology will work at any scale and we could soon be not seeing much bigger objects.
(More invisibility stories.)

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