Tag: invisibility

Harry Potter dumps Hogwarts for Cambridge

HarryPotterSorc01Muggles at Cambridge University have worked out a way of creating Harry Potter’s cloak of invisibility claiming that it could have military uses against You Know Who.

Ventsislav Valev, who we thought was one of the competitors in the Goblet of Fire, is apparently behind the idea. He said that the finished product will more likely resemble a rigid, externally powered suit of armour than Harry’s magical cloak.

At this point, the cloak is a little small for anyone to wear. The Cambridge researchers constructed nanoscale building blocks called “metamaterials.” These nanoparticles that, due to their geometry, are capable of controlling the way light interacts with them.

Valev has made a lot of them in water, which effectively makes them invisible to mermaids and Durmstrang Ships.

The metamaterials alter the way the object is seen. Light is guided around the object as if it was never there.

The technology makes it possible to not only hide something but also make it appear as something else.

Needless to say this cloak of invisibility is a long way off so it will be a while before anyone says mischief made on this one.