Scientists have long had the ability to shield things from view by disguising or reflecting light from the surface of the object, and they’ve even been able to microscopically shield a speck of gold from view, but none of these things have given humanity what we really want:  an invisibility cloak like in Harry Potter.  However, researchers from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland say they’ve cracked the secret of invisibility cloaks using a technology called Metaflex, which combines the gold-shielding technology with extra-thin fabric membranes.

“Arguably, one of the most exciting applications of Metaflex is to fabricate three-dimensional flexible MMs (metamaterials) in the optical range, which can be achieved by stacking several Metaflex membranes on top of one another,” wrote lead researcher Dr. Andrea Di Falco in the New Journal of Physics.  “These results confirm that it is possible to realise MMs on flexible substrates and operating in the visible regime, which we believe are ideal building blocks for future generations of three-dimensional flexible MMs at optical wavelengths.”  She added, “Metamaterials give us the ultimate handle on manipulating the behaviour of light.”

Not only are the metamaterials expected to potentially change the field of camouflage forever, they are also expected to be used to produce better lenses for telescopes and eyeglasses.  Of course, I wouldn’t hold my breath for your own personal invisibility cloak, but if you’ve got Bruce Wayne money, you can probably pull it off.

Tags: Harry Potter, invisibility cloak, weird science, discoveries, technology, invisibility cloak technology, metamaterials, Andrea Di Falco, Metaflex, New Journal of Physics, University of St. Andrews, Scotland, light research, disguises, metamaterials, invisibility

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