Invisibility

A visualization of see-through, yellow-tinted human skin.

Researchers Turn Skin Invisible Using Food Dye

Turns out ordinary food dye can make living tissue safe and temporarily transparent. Still, maybe don't try it on your kids.

Physics & Chemistry Isaac Schultz Sep 5

The Invisible Library Is My Fantasy Novel Comfort Food

Things are a bit better. They’re still not great. Do you need another new refuge of enjoyable entertainment and simple pleasure to bury yourself in, away from the world? Head to the library. Head to Genevieve Cogman’s Invisible Library series, to be exact. It’s gotten me through a chunk of the last few months after…

Books & Comics Rob Bricken Jan 26

7 Essential Invisible Men (and One Invisible Woman)

H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man was published in 1897, giving sci-fi one of its most intriguing and enduring characters. Thankfully, that Dark Universe version with Johnny Depp never came to fruition, but the latest adaptation—starring Elisabeth Moss as a woman tormented by her invisible ex—is out February 28. With that in mind, there’s no better…

Movies Cheryl Eddy Feb 12

Will Smith Is a Hatoful Agent in the Latest Spies in Disguise Trailer

“What happens in the submarine, stays in the submarine.”

Trailers Beth Elderkin Sep 27

Scientists Are One Step Closer to an Invisibility Cloak, But Don’t Get Out Your Wands Yet

Since the Harry Potter books first hit bookshelves, the world has been getting little pieces of J.K. Rowling’s universe. Universal Studios allows you to explore Diagon Alley, you can make your own butterbeer at home, and maybe, in your lifetime, you can experience a working invisibility cloak. Invisibility is one of science’s greatest White Whales,…

Physics & Chemistry Carli Velocci Jul 15

Perfect Invisibility Cloaks May Actually Be Physically Impossible

We would all love to own an invisibility cloak. But new research suggests that if they do ever exist they won’t be perfect: They’ll be more like Predator, less like Harry Potter. A pair of researchers from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, and the University of Otago have carried out theoretical modelling in an…

Physics & Chemistry Jamie Condliffe Mar 11

Meanwhile in the Future: Now You Can Buy an Invisibility Cloak

Scientists now have a way to cloak something very small, making it effectively invisible. But what if scientists and engineers created a much larger version? What if we all had access to invisibility cloaks? A few days ago, a team at Berkeley published a paper called “An ultrathin invisibility skin cloak for visible light” in…

Physics & Chemistry Rose Eveleth Sep 22

We’ve Just Developed a Portable Cloaking Device

If you’re a non-magical being, you might think your chances of becoming invisible are slim to nil. But don’t jump to conclusions just yet: Researchers are now claiming to have developed a portable system that can make small objects, like your keys or pet lizard, disappear from sight. Top image: Conceptual model of an invisibility…

Physics & Chemistry Maddie Stone May 3

New Glasses Make You Invisible to Facial Recognition Software

AVG is a name well-known in the Windows world for its decent and free anti-virus software, but the company is apparently looking to expand outside of just software and protect people’s privacy in the real world now. At Mobile World Congress, AVG is demoing a concept pair of glasses that both foil facial recognition software,…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski Mar 2

Scientists Make Objects “Invisible” With a Tricky Optical Illusion

Invisibility is perhaps the most ubiquitous of sci-fi dreams: Spy movies, video games, and classic cartoons all tantalize us with this trick. Researchers at the University of Rochester still haven’t unlocked the secret to that elusive invisibility cloak either, I’m afraid. But they made a very cool optical illusion that looks the part. With just…

Tech News Bob Sorokanich Sep 26

Just How Much Will Star Wars: Rebels Cross Over Into Episode VII?

Sleepy Hollow casts its Ben Franklin as a recurring character. There will be a time jump between seasons 1 and 2 of The Tomorrow People. And Gotham gets a series order. Plus, new looks at Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Rosemary’s Baby. Spoilers now! Top image: Sleepy Hollow…

Television Katharine Trendacosta May 7

The dream of invisibility and how we are going to make it real

Humans have always dreamed about being invisible, especially the military, who have been trying to get the perfect camouflage since the beginning of war. This is the story of that quest and a look at where we are headed. https://gizmodo.com/the-history-of-invisibility-and-the-future-of-camouflag-1487381235

Sploid Jesus Diaz Jan 27

A 1,476-foot tower equipped with its very own cloaking device

The South Korean government has granted approval to begin construction on what will be the world’s first “invisible” tower. Called the Infinity Tower, it will be equipped with an LED facade system and optical cameras to give it a reflective skin — and a striking translucent appearance. All images via GDS Architects. There are so…

io9 George Dvorsky Sep 12

Mathematician Designs a Time Cloak That Uses Just Light and Mirrors

You know what the futurists are always saying: Time cloaks are so cool but they’re so complicated. And it’s true! What were you expecting from a device that literally hides moments in time? A Northwestern mathematician has just shown, though, it doesn’t have to be quite so hard after all. Miguel Lerma just published a…

Physics & Chemistry Adam Clark Estes Aug 14

A Time Cloak Made from Lasers Can Erase Data from History

Time cloaks are so much cooler than invisibility cloaks because they use freaking time to hide things, not silly dumb vision tricks. This new method of using a time cloak is the first that can cloak data at rapid rates. It might change security altogether. The idea behind a time cloak is sort of simple…

Tech News Casey Chan Jun 5

Backing Up Is a Lot Easier When Your Car’s Back Seat Is Invisible

The last time Keio University was in the news it was for a prototype wearable cloaking device developed by a team of researchers at the school. A decade later you still can’t go out and buy one, but the research has inspired another brilliant use for the technology—invisible car interiors that let you see everything…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Oct 4

Mercedes Makes an Invisible Minivan: I Hope This Becomes an Official Option

Mercedes claims that its new fuel cell technology results in vehicles with no emissions, so it’s as if they’re invisible to the environment. And to drive this fact home, literally, they created a vehicle that was invisible to everything else. Well, at least on one side it is. Half of the vehicle was covered in…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Mar 3

Scientists Completely “Cloak” Three-Dimensional Objects for the First Time

Hiding behind a life-sized negative of yourself won’t actually turn you invisible. But researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have figured out how to use that same idea to make real-world objects vanish when shot with microwave energy. Most attempts at cloaking real-world objects have relied on metamaterials that route incoming light around…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Jan 26

Scientists Invent Cloak of Silence, Still Working on Cone Version

Invisibility cloaks have been making headlines recently, whether underwater, on Jeeps, or in labs. They’re great for keeping you out of sight, but what if you want to move silently too? There’s the newly developed “silence cloak.” https://gizmodo.com/this-disc-makes-objects-invisible-to-sonar-5729554 It works on the same principle as conventional invisibility systems, light—or in this case, sound—wraps around an…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Dec 23

Squids and Octopi Change From Invisible to Camouflaged in a Snap

Squids and octopi are mesmerizing creatures when you can get a look at them. But that’s not so easy thanks to their magical invisibility and camouflage powers. Sarah Zylinski and Sönke Johnsen of Duke University recently learned that the octopus Japetella heathi and the squid Onychoteuthis banksii become camouflaged when faced with bright light, then…

Tech News Kristen Philipkoski Nov 11

Invisibility

Researchers Turn Skin Invisible Using Food Dye

The Invisible Library Is My Fantasy Novel Comfort Food

7 Essential Invisible Men (and One Invisible Woman)

Will Smith Is a Hatoful Agent in the Latest Spies in Disguise Trailer

Scientists Are One Step Closer to an Invisibility Cloak, But Don’t Get Out Your Wands Yet

Perfect Invisibility Cloaks May Actually Be Physically Impossible

Meanwhile in the Future: Now You Can Buy an Invisibility Cloak

We’ve Just Developed a Portable Cloaking Device

New Glasses Make You Invisible to Facial Recognition Software

Scientists Make Objects “Invisible” With a Tricky Optical Illusion

Just How Much Will Star Wars: Rebels Cross Over Into Episode VII?

The dream of invisibility and how we are going to make it real

A 1,476-foot tower equipped with its very own cloaking device

Mathematician Designs a Time Cloak That Uses Just Light and Mirrors

A Time Cloak Made from Lasers Can Erase Data from History

Backing Up Is a Lot Easier When Your Car’s Back Seat Is Invisible

Mercedes Makes an Invisible Minivan: I Hope This Becomes an Official Option

Scientists Completely “Cloak” Three-Dimensional Objects for the First Time

Scientists Invent Cloak of Silence, Still Working on Cone Version

Squids and Octopi Change From Invisible to Camouflaged in a Snap

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