Thread: Invisibility is just around the corner!

  1. #1
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    Invisibility is just around the corner!

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5016068.stm

    My favorite line was in the National Post,

    "Theoretically, the only problem with airplanes and tanks being invisible is that the light no longer goes through them; it goes around them, thereby rendering the pilot blind."

    Great. And how are they going to fix this sort of problem? If it really works, any kind of wave would wrap around the object, so you couldn't even use radar to figure out where objects are if you're operating a moving vehicle.

  2. #2
    Gawking at stupidity
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    That's nothing...it's already here!
    http://science.howstuffworks.com/invisibility-cloak.htm
    If you understand what you're doing, you're not learning anything.

  3. #3
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    I have to laugh... so if I'm not a fan of harry potter I have no idea of what an invisible cloak is?

    The guy that wrote it.....

    ... has to be a fan of harry potter
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

  4. #4
    Gawking at stupidity
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    Don't question science! You only think you knew what an invisibility cloak was before reading the article...
    If you understand what you're doing, you're not learning anything.

  5. #5
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    You are right.

    But I still must protest. All I saw was an invisible shirt.

    Well.. i didn't see it it... err... did i? I saw it was invisible, but if I saw it was invisible then it was not invisible... Ugh! my head hurts.

    And that wasn't harry potter. A scam, i say!
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

  6. #6
    Devil's Advocate SlyMaelstrom's Avatar
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    That was Harry Potter.

    The asian countries re-film the HP movies with asian actors. That was their Harry.

    Looks, pretty cool. Pretty soon we'll be taking foes on like the predator.

    Kind of a humorous note, I don't know if this was intentional, because the writers actually understood the technology... but I find it interesting that the predator saw heat when he had his mask on (and off, if I recall), because as the quote above explains, it would be impossible to see regularly with light bouncing around you.
    Sent from my iPadŽ

  7. #7
    Registered User VirtualAce's Avatar
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    Actually the article about the cloaking device in 18 months is true. It is theoretically possible given our current knowledge of light and magnetism, however, it is as of yet still not common science.

    And there are about ten different mainstream idea for achieving it. I'm not sure how many of them I believe.
    Last edited by VirtualAce; 08-02-2006 at 01:24 AM.

  8. #8
    Dump Truck Internet valis's Avatar
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    http://www.dailytarheel.com/media/st...ilytarheel.com
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...25/ixnews.html

    Those two give a bit better description about the method involving bending the light around an object.

    And here's one that describes the method tokyo universitie's using (a bit): http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,58286-0.html
    Last edited by valis; 08-02-2006 at 02:50 AM.

  9. #9
    Registered User Queatrix's Avatar
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    Starships used cloaking sheilds before Harry Potter even existed. (I think...)

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    << Look! Even vBulletin recognizes that light waves are wrapping around me!
    >Invisable is invisable because it is not meant to be visable
    It's spelled "visible", not "visable"!!!!
    Last edited by joeprogrammer; 08-06-2006 at 04:23 PM.

  11. #11
    The superhaterodyne twomers's Avatar
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    Joe, I protest at your sig! Check your PM if you haven't already!!!

    Invisable is invisable because it is not meant to be visable, or obvious


    EDIT - Thank you!!
    Last edited by twomers; 08-06-2006 at 04:18 PM.

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