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This is freaking amazing. While NASA's been working on thin-film aerogels, three researchers from the University of Texas at Dallas have been forming "free-standing carbon nanotube aerogel sheets for photothermal deflection." What does all that g(r)eek mean? It means invisibility, son.
I won't pretend I understood most of the jargon-filled ten-page research paper presented by Ali E. Aliev, Yuri N. Gartstein and Ray H. Baughman, but from what I gather, they use electricity to vibrate the aerogel material, which doesn't just turn invisible itself—it actually cloaks what it's surrounding. Have a look at this "Application of a nanotube sheet as a mirage-based concealment cloak [that] is demonstrated in water:"
The researchers made their breakthrough last year, though we have yet to see it pop up in daily life, of course. I suspect the research going is slow because every time they turn the machine on and go to lunch, they come back and can't find it.
Comments
Pretty sure that's not invisibility we're seeing here. It's just a mirror that goes from drab to shiny when an electric current is passed through it.
Still cool, mind you, but not invisibility.
Luke is correct. A mirage is simply a reflection of the sky that has the appearance of water. Still there must be an interesting application for this tech.