Time Cloak- A quantum leap in event masking technology

Time cloaking may not be a new concept for the generation that grew up watching programs such as Doctor Who (the last Time Lord who can not only travel in time in his TARDIS, but can also freeze time or cloak an entire event from the view of the rest of the universe). This time cloaking science experiment was successfully conducted by a group of incredibly talented scientists from Cornell University. In this experiment, where science fiction meets reality, these scientists actually succeeded in creating a time cloak, though for a very short time, to actually mask an event for the first time using the dimension of time rather than the dimensions of space.

Time cloak

For developing this time cloak, these scientists from the Cornell University took a few months, which is an amazingly short time when compared to the experiments that are related to the field of theoretical physics that generally take ages to actually materialize into reality. This experiment resulted in the creation of the cloak that lasted a mere 40 trillionth part of a second; a very tiny fraction of the time that you take to blink your eyes, but it's a start. This feat was achieved by interrupting the flow of light by splitting it, as it is this continuous flow that actually enables you to really perceive that something has happened or not.

These scientists created a unique time lens and used it to split the light into two parts by speeding up one fraction and slowing down the other. This created a difference in their relative speeds and thus resulted in the creation of a hole in the space time continuum, hence masking the concerned event as if it never occurred for those observing from any other point in space. This event masking was made possible by the extensive use of optical fibers that are actually thinner than a normal human hair. In the fibers, the beam of light, which was to be split, was shot in along with the other beams that were used in creation of the time lens that resulted in the splitting of the light beam into the two separate speed beams. Since this masking does not bend light in the usual 3 dimensions but regulates how fast it moves, the masking is done using the dimension of time and not space.

Now scientists are working together with their prime focus on prolonging the effect to a larger scale, where the time interval between the controlled beams can actually be increased to a level that may be extended to last for a second. The only spoilsport is the fact that such a feat requires a machine that is at least 18,600 miles in length.

The success of this research is even more significant because every previous attempt of masking an event was primarily concerned with the bending of the space dimension, while in this experiment, the dimension of time has been used to mask an event. This research also proves that total invisibility may also be accomplished in the near future by a combination of space-time dimensional modification.

Via: MSNBC