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Technology

Invisibility cloak leaves the realm of magic at last

By Zeeya Merali

31 May 2006

HIDING objects inside a cloak that channels light around them to make it look as if they aren’t there may soon be possible thanks to a breakthrough idea by materials scientists. It raises the prospect of invisibility shields that could hide objects sitting right under your nose.

Objects are visible simply because light scatters off their surfaces and into your eyes. So in theory, a cloaking device could work by steering light around an object so that you see only the light from behind it, and not the object itself. Now John Pendry, a theoretical physicist at Imperial College London,…

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