Harry Potter invisibility cloak could exist
Scientists say a Harry Potter invisibility cloak could soon be real after they were given the go-ahead for a £4.9 million project.Boffins from Imperial College London have been given the money by the Leverhulme Trust after proving that metamaterials can bend, control and manipulate light and other kinds of electromagnetic waves.
They will now work to create these materials - which lie at the border of physics and materials science - which are believed to be the key to invisibility.
It is claimed such a device would grab light as it approaches and forces it to flow smoothly around the cloak instead of striking it - rendering the object concealed beneath it invisible to the human eye.
While we don't pretend to understand the science behind this, we can't wait to be able to spend our days sneaking around under the cover.
Professor Sir John Pendry, of ICL, said: "We've shown that an optical invisibility cloak is theoretically possible, the big challenge now is to build it.
"This is just one of the many extremely exciting potential uses of metamaterials that we’ll be exploring."
LINKS
Imperial College London
Leverhulme Trust
"This is just one of the many extremely exciting potential uses of metamaterials that we’ll be exploring."
LINKS
Imperial College London
Leverhulme Trust
