Dream come true or nightmare? Scientists have created the invisibility cloak.
After making a groundbreaking invention, scientists are now explaining how the invisibility cloak works. This new scientific project seems like a dream come true for all people who have been hoping to wear clothes that could make them invisible.
The study which was published in the journal of Science and entitled “An ultrathin invisibility skin cloak for visible light” is the first to prove that people can become invisible. The scientific project is based on the influence that light plays on objects’ visibility.
According to researchers, objects are visible to viewers due to the way light falls on them. If alterations are made on light reflection, objects can turn completely invisible, scientists have explained.
The cloak consists of thousands of nanoscale particles which change the way light is reflected to mask objects underneath the skin. As one might expect, researchers have carefully layered fabrics and materials to obtain the invisibility cloak.
The study illustrates how researchers created a 50-nanometer-thick of magnesium fluoride that could better serve their experiments. This layer was then covered with golden antennas having a 30-nanometer thickness.
After repeated trials, researchers understood that antennas have to have different lengths in order to effectively reflect light. Consequently, they have alternated antennas with lengths ranging between 30 to 200-nanometers and widths between 90 to175 nanometers.
There are still many studies left to be made for the improvement of the invisibility cloak. Experiments have shown that the cloak works only when objects are static. The moment they begin moving, they alter light reflection and they become visible again.
Another limitation that Xiang Zhang, one of the members of the research team, has identified is the small scale of the invention. He has stated that the invisibility cloak they have created has a microscopic size and can only be applied to very small objects for the moment.
Future experiments will try to make the cloak work on a larger scale until they can, hopefully, render human beings invisible. Even so, the weight of the fabric will be too big for humans to sustain; therefore, Zhang plans to make the fabric lighter, as well.
There are many uses that could be found for the newly invented invisibility cloak. The most obvious one is the military application because the cloak or at least, the idea behind the cloak, may be used to turn army planes and soldiers invisible on the battle field. Zhang thinks his invention will also help in cosmetics, particularly for people who want to mask some of their physical flaws.
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