Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Spacetime Cloak Of Invisibility Conceals Events
A spacetime cloak (STC) of invisibility has been proposed by UK researchers Martin W McCall, Alberto Favaro, Paul Kinsler and Allan Boardman. The idea is to use appropriate materials to slow light down as it approaches an observer; a temporal void is created during which selected events are rendered unobservable.
We've been reading more about the possibility that metamaterials might make Broadband Invisibility Cloaks possible (to say nothing of inaudibility cloaks), but this is a totally different breed of cat.
Fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation recall The Next Phase, a fifth-season episode. Ensign Ro and Lt. Commander La Forge are apparently lost in a beam-in accident; La Forge believes that they might be out of phase, since they can see their shipmates but cannot be seen themselves. Ultimately, Data solves the problem and returns them to their normal state.
This process is thus utterly distinct from a spatial 'object' cloak, which instead achieves concealment by bending light around an object. The STC opens a temporary
corridor through which energy, information and matter can be manipulated or transported undetected. Once the concealed passage has been used, the STC closes by slowing the leading part of the light, whilst speeding up the trailing part, leaving no trace of the cloak, or the concealed events, on the field profile. To a distant observer, any non-emitting object whose presence persisted throughout the lifetime of the STC will have had a finite interval excised from its history. Any object which emits light during STC operation will have that part of its history temporally compressed so that, if not absorbed, it will appear to the observer as if occurring in a single instant.
(ST: TNG The Next Phase - Geordi and Ro are phased in)
From A spacetime cloak, or a history editor via io9; thanks Moira! for the tip and references for this story.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 11/17/2010)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Space Tech ")
Solitary Black Hole Wanders In Space
'...the Hole is something like a vortex or a whirlpool?' - Frank K. Kelly, 1935.
Spaceplane From Virgin Atlantic
'ZARNAK, YOU'RE TO COMMAND A SCOUTING EXPEDITION --- FIND OUT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT!'
Taikonauts Exercise In China's Tiangong Space Station
'Joe got out the gravity-simulator harnesses...' - Murray Leinster, 1953.
SpaceX's Starman Tesla Roadster In Space
'Somewhere in space, a chrome and blue automobile raced the green light of Earth.' - Theodore Sturgeon, 1941.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Robotic Barber Programmed With a Number of Styles
'He found a barber shop which, he thought, would be good for an idle hour.'
Humanoid Boxing Robot KO's Opponent - It's A Knockout!
'Thirty rounds of fighting is tough work. Even for machines.'
Caterpillar Electric Mining Loader Not Yet Ready For Moon
'...the excavations were already in progress, for he saw gray slopes of rubble.'
Centipede Robots Down On The Farm
'...the walking mills of Puffy Products began to tread delicately on their centipede legs across the wheat fields of Kansas.'
Anthropic's Claude AI Creates Legal Citation From Whole Cloth
'Here is a Clerk that would work incessantly, and neither eat, sleep, want payment, or grumble.'
Students Vie For Lunar Regolith Mining Robot Prize
'About time you got here,' the astronaut said.
'They Erased My Memory' Says Ariana Grande
'...using a neutralizing electronic impulse.'
Solitary Black Hole Wanders In Space
'...the Hole is something like a vortex or a whirlpool?'
Spaceplane From Virgin Atlantic
'ZARNAK, YOU'RE TO COMMAND A SCOUTING EXPEDITION --- FIND OUT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT!'
DARPA Wants 'Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures'
'These are your rudimentary seed packages... Some will combine in place to form more complicated structures.'
Robot Hand Creeps Along, Separate From It's Owner
'The crawling... object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
Taikonauts Exercise In China's Tiangong Space Station
'Joe got out the gravity-simulator harnesses...'
Korean Exoskeleton Suit F1 Helps You Put It On
'Better late than never.'
Have AI Researchers Given Up On 'Bio-Babies'?
'You couldn't have the capstone without the pyramid to hold it up.'
Bunker Busters and Bore-Pellets
'The first revelation of the new Soviet bore-pellets.'
'Spikeless' Brand Swizzle Stick Detects Spiked Drinks
'the unobtrusive inspections with tiny remote-cast snoopers...'
