Scientists Propose 'Cloaking Device'

By Michelle
May 8, 2006 - 10:29 PM

Two mathematicians, Nicolae Nicorovici and Graeme Milton, have offered conceptual proofs suggesting that a cloaking device such as those seen on Star Trek may be a possibility.

BBC News reported that a research paper by Nicorovici and Milton published in a UK Royal Society journal suggests that when objects are placed close to a resonating "superlens", they will appear to vanish due to a phenomenon they term "anomalous localised resonance".

"The phenomenon is analogous to a tuning fork (which rings with a single sound frequency) being placed next to a wine glass. The wine glass will start to ring with the same frequency; it resonates," explained BBC science reporter Paul Rincon, noting that the light waves work much the same as sound waves. "The resonance effectively cancels out the light bouncing off the speck of dust, rendering the dust particle invisible."

At the moment scientists are proposing tests with specks of dust, not objects the size of spaceships, using materials to construct lenses that stop light from scattering as it normally would when it strikes an object. However, Nicorovici and Milton believe that the cloak will not work for every shape or at every frequency of light.

The original article is here.

Discuss this news item at Trek BBS!
Also a CSI: Crime Scene Investigation fan? Then visit!

Find more episode info in the Episode Guide.