Saudi Cabinet reaffirms Syria support, endorses Gaza ceasefire call    Saudi minister calls for global reform, highlights Vision 2030 as G20's fastest development driver    Saudi Arabia and Syria to hold investment forum in Damascus to boost cooperation    At least 1,054 Palestinians seeking aid in Gaza have been killed by the Israeli military, UN says    China finds cover-up in lead poisoning of 200 children    Voices in the cockpit fuelling controversy over Air India crash    Shahad Ameen's Hijra selected for 82nd Venice Film Festival spotlight    Saudi films earn SR100 million at box office in 2025    Saudi Arabia issues new regulations for fine dining restaurants    'My friend died right in front of me': Student describes moment air force jet crashed into school    Saudi Arabia, UK sign new security agreements to deepen future cooperation    Saudi researchers develop 25 advanced semiconductor chips to drive R&D    Saudi Arabia outpaces China and India in renewable energy project costs, says energy minister    Saudi Arabia shuts 267 digital platforms to boost unified government services    Al Hilal withdraws from 2025 Saudi Super Cup in Hong Kong; SAFF to consider Al Ahli as replacement    Death Stranding 2: On the Beach – game review A human journey in a fractured world    José Semedo named acting CEO of Al Nassr    Aubameyang exits Al Qadsiah as club turns to youth with Retegui signing    Main stage at Belgium's Tomorrowland music festival completely destroyed by fire    Saudi Arabia draw Iraq and Indonesia in 2026 World Cup Asian play-off group    Sholay: Bollywood epic roars back to big screen after 50 years with new ending    Ministry launches online booking for slaughterhouses on eve of Eid Al-Adha    Shah Rukh Khan makes Met Gala debut in Sabyasachi    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Cloak of invisibility takes a step forward
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 20 - 03 - 2010

From Grimm's fairy tales to Harry Potter, the cloak of invisibility has played a major role in fiction. Now scientists have taken a small but important new step toward making it reality.
Researchers at Germany's Karlsruhe Institute of Technology report they were able to cloak a tiny bump in a layer of gold, preventing its detection at nearly visible infrared frequencies. Their cloaking device also worked in three dimensions, while previously developed cloaks worked in two dimensions, lead researcher Tolga Ergin said.
The cloak is a structure of crystals with air spaces in between, sort of like a woodpile, that bends light, hiding the bump in the gold later beneath, the researchers reported in Thursday's online edition of the journal Science. In this case, the bump was tiny, a mere 0.00004 inch high and 0.0005 inch across, so that a magnifying lens was needed to see it.
“In principle, the cloak design is completely scalable; there is no limit to it,” Ergin said. But, he added, developing a cloak to hide something takes a long time, “so cloaking larger items with that technology is not really feasible.”
“Other fabrication techniques, though, might lead to larger cloaks,” he added in an interview via e-mail. “Invisibility cloaks are a beautiful and fascinating benchmark for the field of transformation optics, and it is very seldom that one can foretell what practical applications might arise out of a field of fundamental research.” In earlier research, a team led by David Schurig at Duke University developed a way to cloak objects in two dimensions from microwaves. Like light and radar waves, microwaves usually bounce off objects, making them visible to instruments and creating a shadow that can be detected. The new research led by Ergin used infrared waves, which are close to the spectrum of visible light.
In cloaking, special materials deflect radar, light or other waves around an object, like water flowing around a smooth rock in a stream. It differs from stealth technology, which does not make an aircraft invisible but reduces the cross-section available to radar, making it hard to track.


Clic here to read the story from its source.