Tag Archives: Invisibility Cloak

DARPA’s Invisibility Cloak?

Posted on by

Yes, it’s true. Thanks to DARPA funding, a group of scientists have done the impossible. They’ve invented an invisibility cloak.

A Working Invisibility Cloak?

We first reported on invisibility cloak technology back in October 2011. This technology is a little different. But don’t get too excited…this invisibility cloak only works for 50 picoseconds…in other words, 40 trillionths of a second. That’s not enough time to blink let alone sneak through the hallways of Hogwarts. While some improvement is possible, it would apparently take a gigantic machine (18,600 miles long!) to make this invisibility cloak last for a complete second.

Guerrilla Explorer’s Analysis

Still, it’s not all for naught. The invisibility cloak, developed with DARPA funding, could help improve fibre-optic communications security. Then again, it could also be used to hide computer viruses as they’re passed into high-speed data streams. Here’s more on this new invisibility cloak from Fox News:

We see events happening as light from them reaches our eyes. Usually it’s a continuous flow of light. In the new research, however, scientists were able to interrupt that flow for just an instant.

Other newly created invisibility cloaks fashioned by scientists move the light beams away in the traditional three dimensions. The Cornell team alters not where the light flows but how fast it moves, changing in the dimension of time, not space.

They tinkered with the speed of beams of light in a way that would make it appear to surveillance cameras or laser security beams that an event, such as an art heist, isn’t happening…

(Read the rest on this new invisibility cloak at Fox News)

A Cloak…of Invisibility?

Posted on by

Earlier this month, BAE Systems announced a revolutionary technology that could change the face of war…forever. Did the company’s scientists really figure out the secret to making an invisibility cloak?

A Real-Life Invisibility Cloak?

On September 5, BAE issued a remarkable press release entitled, BAE Systems Conjures up Invisibility Cloak. It declared that it had developed an “invisibility cloak” which would allow a vehicle to “blend into its surroundings.” In essence, the cloak is a series of sheets placed on the vehicle which have the ability to change temperature at a rapid clip. When used properly, they can literally make a tank or other vehicle invisible in the infra-red spectrum.

“Known as ‘Adaptiv’, the patented technology is based on sheets of hexagonal ‘pixels’ that can change temperature very rapidly. On-board cameras pick up the background scenery and display that infra-red image on the vehicle, allowing even a moving tank to match its surroundings. Alternatively, it can mimic another vehicle or display identification tags, reducing the risk of fratricide.”

Pretty amazing. At this time, the technology is only useful in the infra-red spectrum. However, this will undoubtedly change over the coming years.

“BAE Systems engineers have combined the pixels with other technologies, which provide camouflage in other parts of the electro-magnetic spectrum at the same time to provide all-round stealth, which will be developed further over the next few years.”

Guerrilla Explorer’s Analysis

Here’s a video of the invisibility cloak in action. If you’re pressed for time, start at 0:49 and wait 3 seconds.

Now you see it. Now you don’t.