Dr. Kaku: CLOTHES THAT MAKE YOU DISAPPEAR...
A LASER BEAM TURNING SOLID OBJECTS TRANSPARENT...
COMBINED INTO THE ULTIMATE CAMOUFLAGE.
VANISHING INTO THIN AIR COULD BE MUCH EASIER THAN YOU THINK.
I'M DR. MICHIO KAKU.
I'M A THEORETICAL PHYSICIST AND A SCIENCE-FICTION FAN.
JOIN ME AS I SHOW YOU HOW TO MAKE SCI-FI SCIENCE.
IMAGINE IF YOU COULD SLIP ON A RING
LIKE FRODO BAGGINS AND...
...VANISH...
PUT ON HARRY POTTER'S CLOAK AND DISAPPEAR FROM SIGHT...
...OR DRINK A MAGIC POTION AND DISSOLVE INTO THE BACKGROUND.
ARE YOU ALL RIGHT, DR. BRADY?
OF COURSE I'M ALL RIGHT.
[ SCREAMS ]
IN SCIENCE FICTION,
INVISIBILITY IS USED FOR ANYTHING
FROM HIDING WHOLE SPACESHIPS TO ESCAPING FROM THE BAD GUYS.
Man: THEY'LL GET IT BACK.
Man: AS THE NIGHT WATCHMAN TALKED...
I WANT TO MAKE THESE DREAMS REAL
BY DESIGNING A DEVICE
THAT GIVES ME THE POWER OF INVISIBILITY.
BUT GENERATIONS OF SCIENTISTS HAVE DISMISSED IT.
THEY SAID IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE...
...THAT IT VIOLATED THE LAWS OF OPTICS.
BUT THEY WERE WRONG. INVISIBILITY IS POSSIBLE.
AND I'M GONNA SHOW YOU HOW TO ACHIEVE IT.
BEFORE I START DRAWING UP MY BLUEPRINTS,
I NEED TO WORK OUT
EXACTLY WHAT MY INVISIBILITY DEVICE NEEDS TO DO.
WHO BETTER TO ASK
THAN THE GUYS WHO LIVE AND BREATHE SCIENCE FICTION?
THE SCI-FI FANS.
IT'S ALWAYS BEEN SOMETHING THAT SCI-FI GEEKS
HAVE FANTASIZED ABOUT.
SO, I HAVE A BUTTON AND [MAKES BEEPING SOUNDS]
OH, I'M GONE. WHERE AM I? WHERE AM I?
PREDATOR HAS, I GUESS,
THE EQUIVALENT OF THE STARSHIP CLOAKING DEVICE
BUT ON A PERSONAL LEVEL.
IT WOULD HAVE TO BE A PERFECT INVISIBILITY DEVICE
THAT THERE WOULD BE ABSOLUTELY NO TRACE
THAT THE PERSON'S ACTUALLY THERE.
TO CREATE A REAL WORKING INVISIBILITY DEVICE,
MY DESIGN HAS TO DO THREE THINGS.
FIRST, IT HAS TO MAKE ME COMPLETELY INVISIBLE
FROM ANY ANGLE.
IT HAS TO BE COMPACT AND PRACTICAL.
IT HAS TO BE REVERSIBLE
SO I CAN SWITCH BETWEEN BEING VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE.
TURNING MY BODY INVISIBLE IS NOT GONNA BE EASY.
BUT I'M CERTAIN ON WHAT'LL MAKE MY DESIGN A SUCCESS --
MANIPULATING HOW THINGS INTERACT WITH LIGHT.
LIGHT IS WHY WE SEE.
IT'S MADE OF MANY DIFFERENT COLORS.
AND THINGS ABSORB OR SCATTER THESE COLORS
WHEN HIT BY A LIGHT BEAM.
THAT'S WHY LEAVES ARE GREEN.
THEY ABSORB ALL THE COLORS OF LIGHT, EXCEPT GREEN.
IF WE CAN CONTROL HOW OBJECTS SCATTER AND ABSORB LIGHT,
WE CAN CONTROL HOW YOU PERCEIVE REALITY.
WE CAN MAKE OBJECTS INVISIBLE.
IN FACT, INVISIBILITY COULD BE AS SIMPLE
AS JUST TRICKING THE EYE.
I'M NOW WEARING THE ULTIMATE IN CONCEALMENT TECHNOLOGY.
IT'S CALLED OPTICAL CAMOUFLAGE,
AND IT'S THE CLOSEST THING WE HAVE TODAY
TO AN INVISIBILITY CLOAK.
IT'S THE BRAINCHILD OF PROFESSOR SUSUMU TACHI.
FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS,
TACHI AND HIS TEAM HAVE BEEN PERFECTING
THE NEAREST THING ON EARTH TO A CLOAK OF INVISIBILITY.
THEIR INVENTION WORKS LIKE THIS.
A CAMERA BEHIND THE SUBJECT
TAKES IMAGES OF THEIR BACKGROUND.
THESE PICTURES ARE PROJECTED
INTO A BOX OF MIRRORS CALLED A COMBINER
AND THEN ONTO THE CLOAK.
LOOK THROUGH THE COMBINER,
AND YOU SEE A COMPOSITE IMAGE OF THE ORIGINAL PROJECTION
AND THE LIGHT REFLECTING OFF THE CLOAK.
[ Laughing ] I SEE.
WHEN HE'S NOT MOVING, IT LOOKS LIKE HE'S GONE.
PRETTY AMAZING STUFF.
I'LL ADMIT IT --
PROFESSOR TACHI'S OPTICAL CAMOUFLAGE
HAS REALLY IMPRESSED ME.
FOR EXAMPLE, YOU CAN MAKE OBJECTS LITERALLY DISAPPEAR.
AND YOU DO PUT ON THIS CLOAK.
IT DOES LOOK LIKE HARRY POTTER'S INVISIBILITY CLOAK.
BUT I'M ALSO THINKING
THAT'S IT GOT SOME MAJOR PRACTICAL DISADVANTAGES.
YOU HAVE TO HAVE CAMERAS EVERYWHERE --
CAMERAS PHOTOGRAPHING WHAT'S BEHIND YOU.
YOU HAVE TO LOOK THROUGH A SPECIAL EYEPIECE
OR WEAR SPECIAL GOGGLES.
SO I THINK THAT HARRY POTTER MIGHT A BIT DISAPPOINTED.
TO GET IT UP TO THE SPEC I'M DEMANDING,
IT NEEDS A SERIOUS UPGRADE.
TO MAKE IT REALLY EFFECTIVE, I'D ADD LOTS MORE CAMERAS.
I'D WEAVE 100 HIGH-RESOLUTION MICRO-LENSES
INTO THE FABRIC OF THE CLOAK SO THEY'RE NOT CONSPICUOUS.
BUT THERE'S A SECOND PROBLEM.
THE CLOAK IS ONLY INVISIBLE IF SEEN THROUGH THE COMBINER.
IF THE CLOAK WERE MADE OF L.E.D. LIGHTS,
IT COULD DISPLAY THE BACKGROUND ON THE SURFACE OF THE FABRIC.
THEN YOU COULD LOOK AT ME FROM ANY ANGLE,
AND I'D BE INVISIBLE.
WELL, ALMOST.
IT'S A PROMISING START, BUT IS IT SCI-FI ENOUGH?
IF IT WAS AN INVISIBILITY DEVICE OF SOME KIND,
IT WOULD HAVE TO BE 100% INDISTINGUISHABLE INVISIBILITY,
EVEN BETTER THAN IN THE MOVIE "PREDATOR."
I'D LIKE A TOTAL INVISIBILITY CLOAK
BECAUSE IF YOU'RE 50/50,
THERE'S NO POINT IN BEING INVISIBLE.
IT'S LIKE THE SAME THING AS YOU'RE THERE.
50% INVISIBILITY IS ONLY... A 50% SOLUTION.
THEY'RE RIGHT.
OPTICAL CAMOUFLAGE IS REALLY JUST A CLEVER ILLUSION.
I WANT TO HAVE TRUE INVISIBILITY.
I WANT TO HAVE LIGHT PASS RIGHT THROUGH ME
AS IF I'M NOT REALLY THERE.
AND FOR THAT,
I MAY HAVE TO REDESIGN MY PLANS FROM THE ATOM UP.
HARRY POTTER CAN DO IT, AND SO CAN SOME HOBBITS.
NOW I WANT THE POWER OF INVISIBILITY, TOO.
IF I REALLY AM GONNA DISAPPEAR INTO THIN AIR,
I NEED A WAY OF MAKING MY BODY COMPLETELY SEE-THROUGH.
IN H.G. WELLS' BOOK "THE INVISIBLE MAN,"
THE MAIN CHARACTER DOES EXACTLY THAT...
Man: WHERE ARE THOSE NOTES?!
...AND PLANS TO USE HIS NEW-GOTTEN POWER
TO TERRORIZE A SMALL TOWN.
GIVE ME THOSE NOTES!
YOU THINK THAT'S JUST A SCI-FI FANTASY,
BUT THERE IS A WAY OF MAKING THINGS DISAPPEAR.
IT EXPLOITS A LOOPHOLE IN THE SCIENCE OF OPTICS.
HERE I HAVE TWO PYREX GLASS BEAKERS.
ONE FITS RIGHT INSIDE THE OTHER.
USING NOTHING BUT ORDINARY VEGETABLE OIL,
I WILL NOW MAKE THE SMALLER BEAKER DISAPPEAR.
ALL I NEED TO DO IS FILL THE SMALLER BEAKER
TO THE BRIM WITH VEGETABLE OIL...
BEFORE FILLING THE LARGER BEAKER.
SO, WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?
LIGHT TRAVELS THROUGH AIR IN A STRAIGHT LINE.
BUT WHEN IT HITS ANYTHING ELSE THAT'S TRANSPARENT, LIKE WATER,
IT BENDS.
THAT'S WHY A STRAW LOOKS BROKEN IN A GLASS OF WATER.
THE AMOUNT BY WHICH SOMETHING TRANSPARENT BENDS LIGHT
IS RELATED TO ITS REFRACTIVE INDEX.
IT JUST SO HAPPENS THAT THE REFRACTIVE INDICES
OF PYREX AND VEGETABLE OIL ARE IDENTICAL.
SO, THE LIGHT BEAMS PASSING THROUGH AIR AND PYREX BEND.
BUT WHEN THEY MOVE BETWEEN PYREX AND OIL,
THEY JUST PASS STRAIGHT THROUGH.
THE BEAKER LOOKS LIKE IT'S NOT THERE.
IT HAS DISAPPEARED.
LOOK, IT'S FADING.
WE'RE GOING TO GET TOTAL REFRACTION.
H.G. WELLS' INVISIBLE MAN
MADE HIMSELF INVISIBLE USING SIMILAR PRINCIPLES.
HE CHANGED HIS BODY'S REFRACTIVE INDEX
TO MATCH THAT OF AIR.
THAT SOUNDS LIKE A TALL ORDER.
BUT A GROUP OF SCIENTISTS IN LONDON
HAVE ALREADY TAKEN THE FIRST STEPS
TO MAKING INDIVIDUAL ATOMS INVISIBLE.
EVERY TIME THIS LASER SHOOTS OUT A PULSE,
TWO BEAMS HIT A CONTAINER OF SPECIALLY-ARRANGED ATOMS.
AND FOR ONE MILLIONTH OF A SECOND, THEY TURN INVISIBLE.
WE'VE MANAGED TO MAKE SOMETHING DISAPPEAR --
VERY SMALL THING FOR A VERY SHORT TIME
WITH THE LASER THAT YOU CAN SEE BEHIND ME,
BUT WE HAVE MADE IT DISAPPEAR.
PROFESSOR CHRIS PHILLIPS
IS THE LEAD SCIENTIST ON THE PROJECT.
HIS TEAM AT IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON
WAS ONE OF THE FIRST TO DISCOVER THE AMAZING SECRET
OF CONTROLLING HOW OBJECTS REACT TO LIGHT
ON THE ATOMIC SCALE.
WHEN AN ATOM IS HIT BY A LIGHT BEAM,
ITS ELECTRONS GET EXCITED
AND JUMP INTO A HIGHER ENERGY STATE.
THE ELECTRONS THEN CRASH BACK DOWN
AND, IN THE PROCESS, RELEASE LIGHT OF THEIR OWN.
PROFESSOR PHILLIPS HAS USED QUANTUM PHYSICS
TO FIND A WAY TO STRAIGHTJACKET THE ELECTRONS.
WE'RE EFFECTIVELY STOPPING THEM FROM MOVING.
AND IT'S THEIR MOVEMENT
THAT WOULD NORMALLY MAKE THEM ABSORB LIGHT.
WE'RE MANAGING TO STOP THEM DOING THAT.
SO THEY'RE STILL THERE, BUT THEY CAN'T MOVE,
AND THEREFORE YOU CAN'T SEE THEM.
STOPPING ATOMS ABSORBING LIGHT
IS AN INCREDIBLE BREAKTHROUGH IN THE QUEST FOR INVISIBILITY.
I'VE GOT SOME IDEAS ON HOW TO USE IT FOR MY OWN DESIGN.
THE POTENTIAL OF THIS TECHNOLOGY IS ENORMOUS.
IMAGINE, FOR THE MOMENT, HAVING AN INVISIBILITY FLASHLIGHT.
YOU SIMPLY SHINE IT ON AN OBJECT,
LIKE A WALL OR A PERSON, AND THEY SIMPLY DISAPPEAR.
BUT THERE'S A MAJOR ENGINEERING PROBLEM
THAT NEEDS TO BE SOLVED BEFORE WE CAN MAKE THIS HAPPEN.
RIGHT NOW, PROFESSOR PHILLIPS' TEAM
CAN ONLY MAKE TINY NANOSTRUCTURES VANISH.
THEY ARE BUILT FROM SPECIAL CRYSTALS WITH IDENTICAL ATOMS.
HIS TEAM CAN MAKE THEM ALL DISAPPEAR
WITH JUST ONE FREQUENCY OF LIGHT
BECAUSE THEY'RE ALL THE SAME.
IMAGINE THESE PURPLE CANDIES ARE THE IDENTICAL ATOMS.
SHINE ONE FREQUENCY OF LASER LIGHT ON THEM,
AND THEY ALL DISAPPEAR.
BUT SCALE THAT UP
TO SOMETHING AS COMPLICATED AS A HUMAN BEING,
AND IT'S A WHOLE DIFFERENT BALLGAME.
PROFESSOR PHILLIPS' LASER
WOULD MAKE ONE TYPE OF ATOM DISAPPEAR.
BUT IT WOULD HAVE NO EFFECT ON THE OTHERS.
SO, WE CAN HAVE A SITUATION WHERE PART OF IT CAN GO,
BUT THE REST OF IT WILL STILL BE THERE.
THAT'S THE ESSENCE OF THE PROBLEM.
YOU WOULD NEED THOUSANDS OF DIFFERENT LASERS
TO ZAP THE BODY'S THOUSANDS OF DIFFERENT ATOMS.
EVEN IF SCIENTISTS CRACK
HOW TO MAKE A HUMAN BODY VANISH USING MULTIPLE LASERS,
THERE'D STILL BE A WHOLE LOT OF PROBLEMS
USING AN INVISIBILITY FLASHLIGHT.
IF I POINTED IT AT MYSELF,
THEN THERE'D ALWAYS BE ONE PART OF MY BODY VISIBLE.
I COULD SECURE THE FLASHLIGHT IN ONE PLACE
AND STEP INTO THE BEAM.
I'D BE COMPLETELY INVISIBLE, AS LONG AS I DON'T MOVE.
BUT IF I REMAIN INSIDE THE LASER BEAM,
I AM INVISIBLE, BUT I'M ALSO BLIND,
BECAUSE LIGHT GOES RIGHT THROUGH MY EYEBALLS,
PAST MY RETINA.
THE FLASHLIGHT WOULD GROUND THE ELECTRONS
ORBITING THE ATOMS OF MY EYEBALLS,
SO THEY WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO ABSORB LIGHT,
AND I WOULD LOSE MY SIGHT -- NOT A GREAT SITUATION.
MAYBE HARRY POTTER HAD IT RIGHT.
I NEED TO GO BACK TO THE CLOAK IDEA.
I'M DESIGNING THE ULTIMATE CAMOUFLAGE --
A DEVICE THAT WILL MAKE ME DISAPPEAR INTO THIN AIR.
IN THE MOVIE "PREDATOR,"
AN ALIEN HUNTER WEARS SPECIAL ARMOR
WHICH RENDERS HIM INVISIBLE AT THE TOUCH OF A BUTTON.
IT'S AS IF LIGHT WERE BENDING AROUND HIS BODY.
SO ALL YOU SAW WAS THE FAINT OUTLINE OF HIS ARMOR
BLENDED INTO THE BACKGROUND.
IMAGINE IF I COULD COPY THAT EFFECT.
BUT THE TEXTBOOKS SAY IT'S IMPOSSIBLE.
IT WOULD MEAN INVENTING A MATERIAL
THAT BREAKS EVERY LAW OF OPTICS.
EVERYTHING TRANSPARENT IN THE VISIBLE UNIVERSE REFRACTS,
OR BENDS LIGHT, IN A PREDETERMINED WAY.
BUT IF I COULD BEND LIGHT AT WILL,
THEN I COULD CHANGE AN OBJECT'S APPEARANCE.
I COULD MAKE THIS STRAW DISAPPEAR
BY ENGINEERING THE WATER TO BEND LIGHT AROUND IT.
BUT THAT WOULD BREAK THE LAWS OF PHYSICS.
OR SO IT WAS THOUGHT,
UNTIL A SCIENTIST AT DUKE UNIVERSITY
BUILT THE IMPOSSIBLE.
Smith: WHEN WE WERE DOING THIS,
WE HAD "PREDATOR," YOU KNOW, THOSE SORTS OF THINGS IN MIND.
[ BOTH LAUGH ]
PROFESSOR DAVID SMITH AND HIS TEAM
HAVE DESIGNED AN AMAZING MATERIAL.
IT'S MADE FROM COMPLEX COPPER CIRCUITS CALLED METAMATERIALS.
IT MAY NOT LOOK LIKE MUCH,
BUT I BELIEVE IT MAY HOLD THE KEY TO INVISIBILITY.
METAMATERIALS HAVE A REFRACTIVE INDEX
THAT BENDS MICROWAVES --
THE COLORED VERTICAL LINES YOU CAN SEE ON THIS SCREEN.
THE CIRCLE IN THE CENTER IS THE COIL OF METAMATERIAL.
AS THE MICROWAVES HIT THE COIL, THEY ARE DEFLECTED AROUND IT.
ANYTHING IN THE MIDDLE APPEARS TO VANISH.
WHAT HAPPENS IN METAMATERIALS
IS THAT WE'RE ABLE TO CREATE MATERIALS
THAT HAVE INDICES OF REFRACTION BEYOND ANYTHING IN NATURE.
IF IT'S POSSIBLE TO BEND MICROWAVES AROUND AN OBJECT,
THEN IT SHOULD BE POSSIBLE TO BEND VISIBLE LIGHT.
THEY'RE BOTH JUST TYPES OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION.
BUT THERE IS A SNAG.
MICROWAVES HAVE A LARGE WAVELENGTH,
ABOUT 3-INCHES LONG.
TO BEND THEM,
THE METAMATERIAL CIRCUITS NEED ONLY BE AROUND 1/3 THE SIZE.
VISIBLE LIGHT HAS A WAVELENGTH BETWEEN 400 AND 700 NANOMETERS.
SO, TO BEND IT,
THE CIRCUITS WOULD HAVE TO BE SCALED DOWN A MILLION TIMES.
BUT IF YOU DO THAT, YOU HIT A PROBLEM.
IF WE WERE TO TAKE THE SAME STRUCTURE
AND SCALE IT DOWN, NANO-PATTERN IT,
WE'D END UP WITH SOMETHING OPAQUE.
IT WOULDN'T BE A CLOAK ANYMORE AT ALL.
AND THAT'S ONE OF THE CHALLENGES THAT WE'RE FACING NOW.
CAN WE DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS AT VISIBLE WAVELENGTHS?
IT'S NOT GONNA BE EASY TO BEND VISIBLE LIGHT AROUND AN OBJECT,
BUT DUKE UNIVERSITY'S EXPERIMENTS
ARE PROOF OF PRINCIPLE.
IT'S A MONUMENTAL BREAKTHROUGH.
METAMATERIALS HAVE ROCKED THE FOUNDATIONS OF PHYSICS.
WHAT WAS ONCE CONSIDERED IMPOSSIBLE,
EVEN PREPOSTEROUS, IS NOW CONSIDERED POSSIBLE.
THIS IS RATHER EMBARRASSING FOR ME
'CAUSE I TEACH OPTICS AT THE UNIVERSITY.
AND FOR YEARS, I WOULD TEACH MY STUDENTS
THAT LIGHT CANNOT WRAP AROUND AN OBJECT
AND RE-FORM AT THE OTHER END, AS IF YOU'RE NOT REALLY THERE.
WELL, I WAS WRONG.
BUT SO IS EVERY SINGLE PHYSICS TEXTBOOK ON THE PLANET EARTH.
ALL OPTICS BOOKS ARE NOW BEING REWRITTEN.
WELL, I GUESS THAT'S JUST THE PRICE OF SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS.
THINGS ARE MOVING FAST, AND SEVERAL RESEARCH GROUPS
HAVE ALREADY CREATED METAMATERIALS FOR VISIBLE LIGHT
ON A NANOSCALE.
I'M CONFIDENT THEY'LL BE ABLE TO SCALE IT UP
SO MY DESIGN WILL COME ALIVE.
CURL THE METAMATERIALS INTO A RIGID CYLINDER
LARGE ENOUGH TO STAND IN,
AND I HAVE A SIMPLE INVISIBILITY CLOAK
THAT BENDS LIGHT.
BUT WITH THE SUPER-VERSATILE FUTURE METAMATERIAL,
POTENTIALLY, I COULD GO EVEN FURTHER,
TAILORING IT INTO A JUMP SUIT
THAT COVERS EVERY INCH OF MY BODY.
SO FAR, SO GOOD.
BUT, UNFORTUNATELY, IT'S NOT GONNA BE THAT SIMPLE.
VISIBLE LIGHT DOESN'T HAVE A SINGLE FREQUENCY OR WAVELENGTH.
IT'S A COMPOSITE OF DIFFERENT ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES,
EACH WITH THEIR OWN FREQUENCY,
WHICH WE HUMANS SEE AS DIFFERENT COLORS.
MY INVISIBILITY CLOAK HAS A PROBLEM.
IT CAN ONLY MAKE YOU INVISIBLE TO ONE FREQUENCY OR COLOR.
BUT OUR EYE CAN DETECT AT LEAST THREE DIFFERENT COLORS --
RED, GREEN, AND BLUE.
I NEED TO GIVE MY JUMP SUIT
AT LEAST THREE LAYERS OF METAMATERIALS --
ONE LAYER FOR EACH COLOR.
NOW, IN THEORY,
THE SUIT SHOULD APPEAR INVISIBLE TO HUMAN EYES.
I THINK MY DESIGN IS SHAPING UP,
BUT IT STILL HAS ONE BASIC PROBLEM.
IN GENERAL,
PHYSICS DICTATES THAT IF YOU'RE INVISIBLE,
YOU'RE BLIND -- YOU CAN'T SEE ANYTHING ELSE.
SO THERE WOULD HAVE TO BE SOME WAY OF...
INVISIBILIFYING ME WITHOUT MAKING ME BLIND.
I'M CLOSE TO TRUE INVISIBILITY,
BUT I CAN'T SEE WHERE I'M GOING.
SO, I NEED TO FIND A WAY TO SEE OUTSIDE
WITHOUT BLOWING MY COVER.
GENERATIONS OF SCIENTISTS
HAVE DREAMT OF BUILDING A CLOAK OF INVISIBILITY.
I'M ON MY WAY TO TURNING THAT DREAM INTO REALITY
WITH A SUIT MADE FROM METAMATERIALS.
FOR THE MOMENT, HOWEVER, I STILL HAVE A PROBLEM.
I CANNOT SEE OUTSIDE WITHOUT GIVING MYSELF AWAY.
IT'S NOT AS SIMPLE AS CUTTING TWO EYEHOLES INTO MY SUIT.
SURE, MOST OF MY BODY WOULD BE INVISIBLE,
BUT ANYBODY WATCHING CLOSELY
WILL NOTICE MY EYEBALLS FLOATING IN MIDAIR.
IT'S A REAL HEADACHE.
BUT I THINK I MIGHT HAVE FOUND A WAY AROUND THIS PROBLEM.
IF YOU CAN SIPHON OFF A TINY FRACTION OF THE LIGHT
HITTING THE METAMATERIAL,
YOU CAN STILL SEE OUTSIDE AND YET BE INVISIBLE.
THIS LENS IS A BEAM SPLITTER.
WHEN STRUCK BY A LIGHT BEAM, IT DIVIDES THE LIGHT INTO TWO.
4% IS REDIRECTED 90 DEGREES,
AND THE REMAINING 96% PASSES STRAIGHT THROUGH.
IMAGINE I COVER UP MY TWO EYEHOLES
WITH A PAIR OF THESE LENSES.
THEY WOULD REDIRECT A TINY PERCENTAGE OF LIGHT
FLOWING AROUND THE METAMATERIALS INTO MY EYE.
SO, IF YOU USE A BEAM SPLITTER FOR YOUR EYEPIECE,
THEN YOU COULD STILL SEE OUTSIDE.
BUT PEOPLE OUT THERE
WOULD ONLY SEE THE FAINTEST OUTLINE OF AN EYEBALL.
NOW, IT'S NOT PERFECT,
BUT IT'S ABOUT AS CLOSE AS YOU CAN GET.
YOU KNOW, 10 YEARS AGO,
I WOULD'VE BEEN CONSIDERED CRAZY
TO EVEN THINK ABOUT THIS POSSIBILITY,
BUT SCIENCE HAS MOVED ON.
I REALLY THINK WE CAN DO IT.
BUT WHAT WILL THE SCI-FI FANS MAKE OF IT?
TODAY, IT'S MY PRIVILEGE TO PRESENT TO YOU
A WORKABLE INVISIBILITY CLOAK.
UNLIKE THE INVISIBILITY CLOAK OF HOLLYWOOD,
WHICH USES SPECIAL EFFECTS, THIS ONE MAY ACTUALLY WORK.
FIRST, I PUT ON MY TIGHT-FITTING SUIT
THAT COVERS EVERY INCH OF MY BODY, EVEN MY FACE.
WE CAN NOW CREATE A SUBSTANCE CALLED METAMATERIALS
WHICH BENDS MICROWAVES PRECISELY LIKE THIS.
SOON, WE'LL BE ABLE TO DO THE SAME THING WITH VISIBLE LIGHT.
I'LL COVER MY SUIT
WITH ADVANCED FORMS OF METAMATERIALS,
AND INVISIBILITY WILL BE INSTANTANEOUS.
ANYTHING INSIDE THE SUIT THEN BECOMES INVISIBLE.
I CAN SEE WHERE I'M GOING
BY LOOKING THROUGH A PAIR OF BEAM-SPLITTING LENSES
COVERING PEEPHOLES IN THE METAMATERIAL.
PASSERSBY CAST A GLANCE IN MY DIRECTION.
IF THEY LOOK HARD ENOUGH,
THEY MIGHT SEE THE SLIGHT OUTLINE OF MY BODY.
BUT THE ILLUSION IS SO GOOD,
THEY HAVE NO IDEA A REAL-LIFE INVISIBLE MAN
IS WALKING RIGHT NEXT TO THEM.
SO, HERE IT IS.
IT'S GONNA HAPPEN IN YOUR LIFETIME.
THIS SEEMED, ACTUALLY, SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE FEASIBLE,
SO I WAS VERY IMPRESSED WITH HOW HE EXPLAINED IT.
HE WAS VERY CLEAR.
I THOUGHT IT WAS PRETTY AWESOME, YEAH.
PEOPLE ACTUALLY WORKING ON IT,
WHERE WE CAN ACTUALLY, IN A COUPLE YEARS,
ACTUALLY BUY AN INVISIBILITY SUIT --
IT JUST BLOWS THE MIND.
I MIGHT ASK FOR ONE WITH AN A-LINE SKIRT,
AS OPPOSED TO, YOU KNOW, BEING SO FORM-FITTING,
BUT A VERY COOL LITTLE DESIGN.