Disguise for the future — how to cheat touch, sensor and sonar

Scientists have invented materials that allow objects and people to become invisible. But what to do with the volume and warmth of the body, which is not so easy to hide?

The cloak is hard to get





Experts from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany) managed to create a polymer metamaterial that can hide an object from our sense of touch. "We are creating a special structure around the object to mask it, explains Tiemo, Buchmann, one of the creators of technology. Is like in a fairy tale of Hans Christian Andersen's "the Princess and the pea", only in reverse. In our case, and one mattress is able to reliably hide the pea, the Princess will sleep fine".

Unusual material has a crystalline structure and consists of long thin cones whose ends are touching. Contact point configured to draw our senses around the finger, giving us the impression, as if hidden under the cloth object does not exist. Being solid, the material behaves like a liquid: it is hard to compress, but it is easy to be deformed. As a result, the resistance force varies depending on where to press — and therefore the hidden object is not felt when pressed.

"We got great figures of disguise, say the researchers. Even sensors can't detect a hidden object".

"The cloak is hard to get" does not yet have practical value because of its small size. And yet developed his team believes that their invention will allow, for example, to create rugs, which are not noticeable wires, or thin camping foam, lying on which you will not feel any tree roots or stones.

To hide from sonar

The American Duke University, meanwhile, has developed a 3D dome in the shape of a pyramid, which allows you to hide objects from sonar. The mechanism of echolocation is simple: when sonic or ultrasonic waves that emits a bat, sonar, or other source, encounter the object, they are reflected and returned from whence he came. The time spent on this path, lets you know where the object is.

Developed by American specialists of the dome allows to interrupt the process and make the object "neprikosaemye". The dome is entirely made from a porous plastic plate, without microchips, sensors, wires and batteries. The secret of its magical properties is in the arrangement of structure elements and holes on them. When a sound wave reaches a cap, she lost it and is allowed to bypass the hidden object through the pyramid so that both retain the "sonic invisibility".

While antiagregazionny dome was tested only on air, but as soon as the trial should be held under water. If they are successful, the pyramid will be able to use not only military, but also architects who create the theatres and public halls. After all, covering such a cap beam and wall, you can avoid unwanted echoes and effects of sound waves on the load-bearing structure of the building.

Thermocouples for military



Scientists from the National University of Singapore has recently created thermocoupler, which allows a person to become invisible to infrared sensors. Radiation in the thermal range is inherent in all natural objects, from stones to human fingers. However, if this heat signature to block or disguise, and the stones, and the fingers will be impossible to detect. In addition, the camouflage allows you to simulate the presence of another object — for example, to hide from the sensors to the man and "show" instead of the figures of the two women.

"We were the first to show in practice that such a device can be effective, says the head of a group of scientists, Dr. Kia of Chengwei. Our technology termometrovy economical, can be easily scaled and applied to larger objects: for example, to the military during the nightly jobs. We use natural granular material not used in the production of complex technology. This allows to overcome the limitations imposed by metamaterials. Because they are impossible to find in nature, and therefore have to make especially, spending great efforts in order to give them the desired properties."

Source: theoryandpractice.ru