Thread: IRL Cloaking Device

"A group of researchers from the University of Texas demonstrate that transparent carbon nanotube sheets, which have a strength greater than steel, can be used to make objects invisible."

I would post the video but i still cannot post links so i'll have to improvise.

www(dot)break(dot)com/index/invisible-metal-with-nanotechnology-2219533

Pretty interesting. I had this idea when I was young (well, not with transparent carbon nanotube sheets because I didn't know what those were, but with 'cameras' and screens).

I know nothing about this so sorry if this is impossible and a stupid thing to say, but wouldn't that be amazing if we could eventually have invisibility cloaks.

Originally Posted by Dianeva

I know nothing about this so sorry if this is impossible and a stupid thing to say, but wouldn't that be amazing if we could eventually have invisibility cloaks.

It's all good i don't really know anything about this either it was just pretty interesting to me. Invisibility cloaks everywhere would lead to chaos haha.

It's hard to think of the technology that will be emerging in the next few years. It's gonna get out of control imo

Originally Posted by Dianeva

Pretty interesting. I had this idea when I was young (well, not with transparent carbon nanotube sheets because I didn't know what those were, but with 'cameras' and screens).

I know nothing about this so sorry if this is impossible and a stupid thing to say, but wouldn't that be amazing if we could eventually have invisibility cloaks.

Murder everywhere.

Going to look at the link now

Edit: Pretty awesome video, can't wait for the others to give input on this and make me look silly

What is even happening in that video.

The switch you hear turns on electricity which runs through the nanotubes and gives off an insane amount of heat, that heat in turn creates a sharp transition of hot and cold which bends the light. Look slightly above the tubes whenever they become invisible and you'll be able to see the hot flickering.
Just saying an invisibility cloak like that would be vulnerable to thermal visors and you wouldn't feel that comfortable as well.

Good news: you're invisible.

Bad news: you have third degree burns.

Well thanks for that info, seriously.

It might be a different thing that I'm thinking of, but the one I read about a while ago was a laser being shot at the nanotubes, not electricity being passed through them.
And it basically creates a mirage effect (which I guess is what is happening in this video) which is what is bending the light. If it was a cloak, you'd still see those heat vapors. So it would look like a mirage moving around basically.

Originally Posted by tommo

It might be a different thing that I'm thinking of, but the one I read about a while ago was a laser being shot at the nanotubes, not electricity being passed through them.
And it basically creates a mirage effect (which I guess is what is happening in this video) which is what is bending the light. If it was a cloak, you'd still see those heat vapors. So it would look like a mirage moving around basically.

Yeah that's right, a laser would work just as well due to the incredibly low albedo of carbon nanotubes, which means that nearly the complete energy is turned into heat. I already thought about the mirage effect, but decided to leave it at what I posted.