Potter type tricks

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Potter type tricks

Postby ozzy72 » Fri May 26, 2006 10:21 am

You don't even need a dragon or a broomstick according to this article pinched from the Guardian...

The development of new materials could see items such as invisibility cloaks, a key weapon in the trickery of Harry Potter and countless science fiction plots, become a reality within five years.
Two research groups have published technical blueprints for making "metamaterials" which can change how light and other forms of radiation bend around an object, in a way similar to water flowing around a rock.
An observer would see whatever was behind the object as if it were not there, said Professor Ulf Leonhardt of St Andrews University, whose research was published in the latest edition of the journal Science.
David Smith from Duke University in the US, who has been independently pioneering the development of metamaterials with John Pendry of Imperial College London said the cloak would act "like you've opened up a hole in space".
"All light or other electromagnetic waves are swept around the area, guided by the metamaterial to emerge on the other side as if they had passed through an empty volume of space," Prof Smith told the Financial Times.
The developments have led to concerns about the ethics that might govern how such technology could be used. "Innovations such as these - as fantastic, imaginative and useful as they might be - would be disruptive to society today," said Patrick Lin, the research director of the US-based Nanoethics Group.
"For instance, the ability to become invisible will have profound implications for privacy as well as national security."
Mr Lin insisted his group, which calls for open-mindedness and public debate about the development of new technologies, did not want to discourage scientists by slowing slow down their work.
"We're fans of technology and are excited about its possibilities just like everyone else," he said.
"Instead, we are encouraging ethicists, policymakers and the broader public to catch up on thinking through the enormous implications of new technologies - in this case, before any privacy violations or security breaches may occur."
Prof Smith's research has received funding from the US defence advance research projects agency, which sees possible applications for cloaking military hardware.
Experiments to demonstrate cloaking at microwave frequencies could give results within 18 months, Prof Pendry said. "But I don't think we will have cloaks for visible light for at least five years," he added.
David Schurig, another member of the Duke University research team, said there was no theoretical limit to the size of cloaking materials. They could be used to hide eyesores as large as refineries, he said.

Peering into my crystal ball I forsee our Fozzer buying one so he can lurk in Jordans bathroom undetected! Mind you his glasses will be steamed up even when the shower isn't on ;D
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Re: Potter type tricks

Postby Hagar » Fri May 26, 2006 12:21 pm

I heard about this on the radio today. Seems to work on the same principle as the "black hole". I'll believe it when I see it - or don't see it as the case may be. ::) :D
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Re: Potter type tricks

Postby Hai Perso Coyone? » Fri May 26, 2006 12:24 pm

Wow...it's for us Harry Potter enthusiasts...who need planes when you have broomsticks...right? ;D ::) :P
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Re: Potter type tricks

Postby beaky » Fri May 26, 2006 1:55 pm

Wow...it's for us Harry Potter enthusiasts...who need planes when you have broomsticks...right? ;D ::) :P


Try sitting on a broomstick for a few hours at altitude, then ask again... ;D
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Re: Potter type tricks

Postby Delta_ » Fri May 26, 2006 2:56 pm

They won't be invisible to infra-red detection methods.

Active camouflage on tanks already exists.  Where panels on one side of a tank project the image that is at the other side.
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Re: Potter type tricks

Postby Craig. » Fri May 26, 2006 4:53 pm

hmm, star trek did it first. potter can kiss picards backside, ;) ;D ::)
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Re: Potter type tricks

Postby expat » Fri May 26, 2006 6:39 pm

Invisibility cloaks.........The dream of every spotty 15 year old boy who wants to sit undetected in the girls changing room :o

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Re: Potter type tricks

Postby Jared » Fri May 26, 2006 9:42 pm

;D ;D ;D ;D
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Re: Potter type tricks

Postby JBaymore » Sat May 27, 2006 12:19 pm

hmm, star trek did it first. potter can kiss picards backside, ;) ;D ::)


Wrong.... kiss KIRK's.
Last edited by JBaymore on Sat May 27, 2006 12:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Potter type tricks

Postby Craig. » Sat May 27, 2006 12:27 pm

I dunno John, we all know how kirk got when there was the chance of some lovin. Last thing you need is anyone kissing his ass. ;D
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Re: Potter type tricks

Postby Katahu » Sun May 28, 2006 1:21 am

I thought the Klingons achieved that already. Or in the case of Stargate, the Nox. ;D

I have to agree on the infared thing. The cloak will hide you in normal light, but it won't help you when someone switches to infared detection. 8)
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Re: Potter type tricks

Postby H » Sun May 28, 2006 1:43 am

Peering into my crystal ball I forsee our Fozzer buying one so he can lurk in Jordans bathroom undetected! Mind you his glasses will be steamed up even when the shower isn't on ;D
Or becoming a manufacturer of ladies' apparel and buying rolls of it in thin flexible sheet, then stabbing himself endlessly with the needle while trying to sew it up. :o 8)
Last edited by H on Sun May 28, 2006 1:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Potter type tricks

Postby Delta_ » Sun May 28, 2006 2:19 pm

I thought the Klingons achieved that already. Or in the case of Stargate, the Nox. ;D

I have to agree on the infared thing. The cloak will hide you in normal light, but it won't help you when someone switches to infared detection. 8)

Just make sure you are in front of a radiator, or other hot things... shower room?  ;D
Last edited by Delta_ on Sun May 28, 2006 2:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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