Scientists Developing Cloaking Material, Light Still Can't Get Around Kirk's Gut

From the Washington Post:

The nascent invisibility cloak now being tested ... is made of a material that bends light rays "backward," a weird phenomenon thought to be impossible just a few years ago.

Known as transformation optics, the phenomenon compels some wavelengths of light to flow around an object like water around a stone. As a result, things behind the object become visible while the object itself disappears from view.

"Cloaking is just the tip of the iceberg," said Vladimir Shalaev, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University and an expert in the fledgling field. "With transformation optics you can do many other tricks," perhaps including making things appear to be located where they are not and focusing massive amounts of energy on microscopic spots.

Did you notice how they described the stuff as a "Harry Potter" cloak of invisibility? Man, wasn't so long ago that the media would have thrown around "cloaking device," and made some kind of Star Trek reference. How far we Trekkies have fallen in the pop-culture landscape. They hardly ever even say "beam me up" anymore.

BONUS COMBO!!!

If you've ever wondered exactly what happened between the end of the original series of Star Trek and the movies that so drastically altered the - er, physiques of the cast...



...they introduced inter-stellar delivery.