Scotty, Activate The Cloaking Device Now!

Scientific wizards find real cloak of invisibility

JAMES REYNOLDS
SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT

A CLOAKING device that makes objects invisible is being developed by researchers, bringing the magic of Harry Potter into the world of science fact.

While Harry uses his cloak of invisibility to move about Hogwarts School unseen, electronic engineers at the University of Pennsylvania are working on a real invisibility shield called a "plasmonic cover".

The development, which works by preventing objects from reflecting and scattering light, could have widespread use in the military as it would be more effective than current stealth technology.

Although no final product has been made, the engineers claim their proposal "does not obviously violate any of the laws of physics".

A report in the journal Nature reveals that the new system is far more ambitious, being both self-contained and reducing visibility from all angles. In this sense it would be more like the shields used by the Romulans in the Star Trek episode Balance of Terror which hid their spaceship at the touch of a button.

Objects are visible because light bounces off them; if this can be prevented and if the objects did not reflect any light, they would become invisible. The "plasmonic screen" achieves this by resonating in tune with the illuminating light.

http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm...fm?id=226392005

Hmmmm, I think this is neat, after all, we already have communicators (cell phones) and they had a fax machine in one star trek episode, right next to either Uhura or Spock,( lol, been a week or so since Sci Fi channel had a Star Trek day) why not a cloaking device?
Next we're gonna hear there's such a thing a Dilithium Crystals!!

Lil

They're working on transporters too. Haven't gotten them working well enough for humans yet though.

And Ion Drive is already in space. Another technology inspired by Star Trek

Hmmm . . .

Nanotechnology. Very interesting.

And what about those handheld communicators? We have those now too, complete with annoying ringtones that only go off when you're at the movie theater !

OT: Brother MDF3530, have you read anything about those cell phone jammers (that are illegal in the US, but sometimes find their way into theatres, restaurants, churches, etc.)? Check out: http://www.globalgadgetuk.com/cell%20phone...e%20jammers.htm

I've always been a Trek nut, and I would LOVE to spend one year aboard the Enterprise (either NCC 1701, A, or E).

It's always been said that the military is 20 years ahead of the civilian world, so what kind of toys are THEY playing around with?

"They" can tell you, but then "They" would have to kill ya'

Ask the military about the hummers they have that run on tap water!?!