Invisibility cloaks, which guide light waves around an object to conceal it, are coming closer to reality. We find scientist from Europe and Asia developing a new kind of a mirror, christened the (Eaton Lens) universal mirror, which exactly opposite to the invisibility cloak, reflects all light waves back to their source.
The universal mirror unlike the regular mirror, which reflects objects at 90 degrees only, reflects back waves to any angle from where they originate, making the objects really visible, irrespective of the angle of origin. Like the invisibility cloak however, the universal mirror too is made from matamaterials (artificial materials that derive properties from their physical structures) to manipulate the light waves.
Form and working
The new mirror made of copper circuit boards covered in circles three millimeters across, measures one centimeter in height and 10 centimeters in diameter. When microwaves measuring three centimeters in length hit these circles on the mirror, they are reflected back at the same angle from which they originate.
Potential
The installation of the universal mirror on aircraft, tanks and boats could make them easily traceable over radar, but would also protect them against laser ammunition. The laser beams will not find a target on the coating because the rays will be directly reflected off it in the same direction from where they are being shot. It may be too early to sum this up, but yes, the potential is pretty evident and the future quite transparent.
Via: Discovery
