Muggles Invent Invisibility Cloak October 23, 2006

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Harry Potter eat your heart out. UK and US researchers have been beavering away on creating an invisibility cloak so that we too can sneak around the gloomy halls of draughty wizards’ schools.

In fact, as long as you are just 5in tall and the person looking for you is using microwaves, you should be fine. Still, it’s a first step. The mini-cloak uses metamaterials – artificial materials – and a series copper rings. Recent tests showed how the waves could be bent around the object, concealing it’s presence. In an interview with The Times, Prof David Smith said:

“Our cloak allows a concealed volume, plus the cloak, to appear to have properties similar to free space when viewed externally,” Professor David Smith, of Duke University, said. “The cloak deflects microwave beams so they flow around a ‘hidden’ object, making it appear almost as if nothing were there at all. The waves’ movement is similar to river water flowing around a smooth rock.”

Not much will happen soon but in five years time they claim they’ll be able to hide a tank. All you pervs dreaming about sneaking into the girl’s shower room can just forget it, and get back to work.- Martin Lynch

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