It doesn’t look as cool as Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak, but this is real science, not movie magic.

Discussion:  Humans have dreamed of becoming invisible for centuries–it is the stuff superheroes are made of.  Researchers in Texas have developed a ‘mantle cloak’ that, when wrapped around an object, makes the object ‘disappear’.  The effect, however, only applies to limited range of light waves (in specific, microwaves).  When encased in the cloak, microwave detectors can no longer plainly ‘see’ the object, although it is still visible to the human eye.  Researchers say the same principle could, hypothetically, be applied to the range of visible light as well.

Source:  CNN News

Date:  March 27, 2013

Link:  http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/27/tech/invisibility-cloak/index.html

Discussion Questions:

• How could this technology be applied to camouflage?
• Why might this technology be useful?