Ships you Can't See

Did you know that radar was invented as a sort of consolation prize after Robert Watson Watt determined it would be impossible to invent a death ray?

Anyway, I was in the middle of reading this article about how stealth technology for warships is improving, when I came across something that made me pause and say "Holy crap."

Here it is:

"Metamaterials are tailored to have specific electromagnetic properties not found in nature. In particular, they can bend light around an object, making it appear to an observer as though the waves have passed through empty space."

Come again? Invisibility? What? Huh?

But hold on. Let's hear some more and get disappointed.

From an interview with David R. Smith, one of the physicists working with metamaterials:

TR: So an object inside the shield is actually invisible?

DRS: More or less, but when we talk about invisibility in these structures, it's not about making things vanish before our eyes--at least, not yet. We can hide them from microwaves, but the shield is plain enough to see.

So...only microwaves. Bummer. And Smith also points out that the way metamaterials work isn't really all that conducive to using them to hide away giant objects like ships and planes. Right now, some more likely uses are better data storage and solar energy technology that can run on indirect sunlight.

Still, it seems the biggest barrier right now is the size of the waves -- they're tiny, and it's hard to build tiny. The microwave demonstration was easiest to make, but a demonstration that applies to visible light could be coming. Someday.

Or just more room for special features on our DVDs. And less global warming, with better solar panels. Which is good too.

(Image: The Visby Corvette, a Swedish warship that uses "dazzle painting" among other techniques to make it harder to see and detect. naval-technology.com)