WASHINGTON (AP) -- Imagine an invisibility cloak that works just like the one Harry Potter inherited from his father.

 

 

 

Researchers in England and the United States think they know how to do that. They are laying out the blueprint and calling for help in developing the exotic materials needed to build a cloak.

 

 

 

The keys are special manmade materials, unlike any in nature or the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. These materials are intended to steer light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation around an object, rendering it as invisible as something tucked into a hole in space.

 

 

 

"Is it science fiction? Well, it's theory and that already is not science fiction. It's theoretically possible to do all these Harry Potter things, but what's standing in the way is our engineering capabilities," said John Pendry, a physicist at the Imperial College London.

 

 

 

Details of the study, which Pendry co-wrote, appear in Thursday's online edition of the journal Science.

 

 

 

Scientists not involved in the work said it presents a solid case for making invisibility an attainable goal.

 

 

 

"This is very interesting science and a very interesting idea and it is supported on a great mathematical and physical basis," said Nader Engheta, a professor of electrical and systems engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. Engheta has done his own work on invisibility using novel materials called metamaterials.

 

 

 

Pendry and his co-authors also propose using metamaterials because they can be tuned to bend electromagnetic radiation -- radio waves and visible light, for example -- in any direction.

 

 

 

A cloak made of those materials, with a structure designed down to the submicroscopic scale, would neither reflect light nor cast a shadow.

 

 

 

Instead, like a river streaming around a smooth boulder, light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation would strike the cloak and simply flow around it, continuing on as if it never bumped up against an obstacle. That would give an onlooker the apparent ability to peer right through the cloak, with everything tucked inside concealed from view.

 

 

 

"Yes, you could actually make someone invisible as long as someone wears a cloak made of this material," said Patanjali Parimi, a Northeastern University physicist and design engineer at Chelton Microwave Corp. in Bolton, Massachusetts, Parimi was not involved in the research.

 

 

 

Such a cloak does not exist, but early versions that could mask microwaves and other forms of electromagnetic radiation could be as close as 18 months away, Pendry said. He said the study was "an invitation to come and play with these new ideas."

 

 

 

"We will have a cloak after not too long," he said.

 

 

 

The Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency supported the research, given the obvious military applications of such stealthy technology.

 

 

 

While Harry Potter could wear his cloak to skulk around Hogwarts, a real-world version probably would not be something just to be thrown on, Pendry said.

 

 

 

"To be realistic, it's going to be fairly thick. Cloak is a misnomer. 'Shield' might be more appropriate," he said.

 

 

 

Interesting..

That's awesome... The only bad thing is that it won't be released to the public. If a criminal got a hold of something like that, imagine the crimes they could commit...

But I imagine it will be very heavy

I read that just a few minutes ago.

 

 

 

I want it please. :(

 

 

 

And about the crime thing: They might be invisible, but they'd still be solid. :wink:

That's awesome... The only bad thing is that it won't be released to the public. If a criminal got a hold of something like that, imagine the crimes they could commit...

 

 

 

If i got hold of it, imagine..

Im still puzzled as to how the material works. Its suppose to bend the light around it... but how would that affect the ways our eyes pick up the light?

That's awesome... The only bad thing is that it won't be released to the public. If a criminal got a hold of something like that, imagine the crimes they could commit...

 

 

 

If i got hold of it, imagine..

 

I prefer to not... :P

 

I want one :sad:, no, I NEED one!

Scientists have been working on something like this for a long time now. I remember hearing about it years ago.

Found some interesting pics of this..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also...

 

 

 

 

 

 

I want one :(

If this is what I think it is, then it is just a reflective jacket and a projector and cammera linked togethor and focused right. You cant do anything with it illegal because the setup is one-way and you cant walk around more than a few feet.

And it's pretty opaque, as we can all tell.

 

You'd still get seen quite easily.

Translucent you mean.

 

 

 

And at least they're getting somewhere :shock:

Geez, can you post the link?

 

 

 

This is just amazing....

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/05/25/invi ... n=cnn_tech

That.. is... AWESOME!! I doubt they'd make it available to the public tho. Probably only for use in the military.

Whoa, that's pretty cool. I never imagined they'd have something like this so soon...

There was a picture of something like this in a newspaper a year or so ago.

 

It was a coat and hat developed by someone, which had hundreds of tiny cameras on all surfaces, projecting images to a different part of the coat/hat.

 

It was especially effective in darker areas, so i suppose this type of technology would be mainly employed out of daylight hours.

 

 

 

~Jimmie

Yeah I read that article on CNN a few days ago, pretty crazy stuff. However, the images posted (from howstuffworks) are different, from what I understand. The article is speaking of new technology, new research and new materials. The "invisibility" raincoats developed by the japanese are of a different manner than the invisibility cloak which the article speaks of. So all the images and news from past years is regarding something different.

I swear, we've had this exact same thread before..