"Stop it, it’s
not funny! Where are you?" Can you imagine saying this phrase to a friend who is
hiding behind an invisibility cloak? Well, now this possibility is a reality
thanks to a team of scientists
from the Duke University who created a device which doesn't reflect microwaves.
This technology is far from being perfect yet, but the main idea is set and
ready to be developed.
Let’s take
a deeper look into this scientific breakthrough.
"It [the device] split light into two waves which
traveled around an object in the center and re-emerged as the single wave with
minimal loss due to reflections," explained Nathan Landy, a grad student
from the Duke University who worked on the project, on an interview.
Seeing it
from a simpler point of view; the effect that allows the invisibility cloak to
exist is similar to mirages. When an object appears to be reflected as if there
were water under it, the mirage phenomenon is happening. This phenomenon is
caused by light bending. Light bends when it passes from one medium to another.
In both cases, mirages and the invisibility cloak, light bends because of hot
waves.
This
discovery is without question remarkable, but there is a problem that arises
with it. What if this technique is used with military purposes? Do you still
approve this technological development knowing that the
invisibility cloak will probably hide tanks and nuclear weapons?
For further information, watch this video
I admit that when I first saw the entry’s title and the Harry Potter’s picture, I thought that the idea of having an invisibility cloak was amazing. I fancy myself hiding from my friends and playing them jokes. However, you presented an option much less innocent. When I think about that this technique would be used with military purposes, I have no doubt that it would become a risk rather than a development. It similar to what happens nowadays with anti-personal mines: people cannot see them, but they are still there, waiting to hurt or even kill someone. If it is decided to use invisibility cloak to hide tanks and bombs, then I disagree with this technology. I don’t like it. It is dangerous and it will only give more power to those countries that are the most powerful all over the world.
ReplyDeleteI think that everyone who reads this entry or to know about this finding will have to say "awesome", I certainly did. The danger of any scientifinc finding (and I really mean "any" even the most pacific and unrelated-with-war one)is at risk of becoming a military weapon, but that shouldn't stop scientists, human kind will continue to make war to eachother, it's innevitable, as an atropologist would explain "it's a birth-control, or population-control method used by nature"
ReplyDeleteI think many of who grew up watching and reading the Harry Potter saga have dream with that. Perhaps J. K. Rowling never thought that it could be real, and it could be awesome. Sadly, I strongly agree that unscrupulous people may use it for destruction and damage. It has happened historically. For example, Chinese invented fireworks, but then they were used to created fire guns. Maybe the invisibility cloak was the only deathly hallow that was not used with bad intentions, but the books’ characters are not the same as humans.
ReplyDelete