Invisibility Cloaks in Sight

New advances in “metamaterials,” which change how light bends around an object, could make Harry Potter’s invisibility cloaks reality, The Guardian reports.

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.

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