March 01, 2005
An Invisibility Cloak for Really Tiny People

Slashdot linked up a new technique for making things "invisible" to electromagnetic radiation. The article plays up the "cloak of invisibility" angle, right up to the point where the scientists point out for their technique to work it requires objects to be smaller than the (single!) wavelength of light you're trying to "shield" against.

However, the technique should have far broader applications against lower frequencies like those found in radar. Which makes me wonder... about fifteen years ago Aviation Week & Space Technology reported the gold tinting seen on many aircraft canopies and windows was actually a stealth technology. This technique uses gold and silver as its primary materials. Could civilian scientists have independently stumbled onto how that sort of thing actually works?

Yeah, probably not. But things like that have happened before!

Posted by scott at March 01, 2005 10:17 AM

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Comments

I think the gold on the cockpits is to prevent the radar from penetrating the cockpit - when radar hits the inside of the cockpit, it makes a huge signature. If it can't get in, that reduces the signature dramatically. Given that, I'm not sure the two are that related.

Posted by: ronaprhys on March 1, 2005 11:00 AM
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