This is one of those things that deserves a lot longer post because it’s so cool. But oh well. Looks like they are working on other cool new ideas for making things invisible. Of course, when I say “things” I mean “things for killing people,” but that’s just how shit goes. Anyway, there is a cool article about it over on the National Geographic site, that my friend from New World Border sent me.

Here’s a little taste to wet your whistle:

Electronic engineers at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia are researching a device they say could make objects “nearly invisible to an observer.” The contrivance works by preventing light from bouncing off the surface of an object, causing the object to appear so small it all but disappears.

… The concept is based on a “plasmonic cover,” which is a means to prevent light from scattering. (It is light bouncing off an object that makes it visible to an observer).

The cover would stop light from scattering by resonating at the same frequency as the light striking it. If such a device could cope with different wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation (including visible light), in theory, the object would vanish into thin air.

I remember reading about some other research a while back, I think in Japan where they were doing experiments with invisibilty. Here’s one article from Wired on it. Their techniques had more to do with cameras and projection. This whole thing about stopping light from bouncing off something sounds much more awesome.