U. S. “Decloaking” Klingon-like Gadget
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Critics of such Gee Whiz military gadgets say they at the expense of brute force they say still rules battlefields.
In a STAR TREK like development U.S. updates on an electromagnetic cloak to surround soldiers and assets and make them invisible like the fantasy technology of humankinds arch enemy the Klingons in the 1970-80s TV series. The project involves leading U.S. universities to research the refraction of light to prevent visibility. They said such technology was based on the use of meta, an artificial material that can bend light.
“Meta materials are artificial materials with versatile properties that can be tailored to fit almost any practical need,” Richard Hammond, a theoretical physicist at the U.S. Army’s Research Office, said. “Similar to general relativity, where time and space are curved, transformation optics shows that the space for light can also be bent in an almost arbitrary way.”
“One of the most exciting applications is an electromagnetic cloak that can bend light around itself, similar to the flow of water around a stone,” Hammond said. “Making invisible both the cloak and an object hidden inside.”
Meta could be used to cloak material by redirecting light around a cylindrical shape, researchers said. They said meta could also detect compounds such as chemical or biological weapons agents.