Rest Day Read (SR-26)
Metamaterial Revolution: The New Science of Making Anything Disappear.
by Fred Hapgood, Discover Magazine March 10, 2009
“The goal at hand, changing how objects interact with light, seemed at first blush to be routine; people had been manipulating visible light with mirrors and lenses and prisms nearly forever. But Zhang, a materials scientist then at the University of California at Los Angeles, knew those applications were limited. Based overwhelmingly on a single material, glass, the technologies were restricted by the laws of optics described in standard physics texts. The engineers in the room hoped to smash through those barriers with materials and technologies never conceived of before. The proposals included crafting what amounts to an array of billions of tiny relays; in essence, the relays would capture light and send it back out. Depending on the specific design of the array, the light would be bent, reflected, or skewed in different ways.”
Yep people, this means invisibility. Definitely a ways down the road and depending on the ironing out of some technical glitches, but amazing technology, to say the least. As my one-of-a-kind Grandpa Bosley would say when presented with such modern inventions as the cordless phone, heart pacemakers, cruise control, car air conditioning and microwave ovens, “Well, I’ll be damned”.
we did a whole optics unit in my engineering physics II class…the whole concept is nuts. interesting stuff. btw, nice picture at the top!
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Dear #58,
That is really quite funny to hear from you. I actually was thinking about the 2006 group of lineman when I wrote this blog post up. I knew your group of smart SOB’s would probably enjoy the article and the physics behind the technology. After I posted the draft, I got tired of the stock banner picture on the blog and went to the Bubba Lineman Facebook page to upload a photo of you guys. I wanted the one from the Atchison game with the right side of the line at the LOS. That is my favorite football picture from all the years, even with its association to that ever present stinging memory of the game’s end. Unfortunately the picture was fuzzy when I loaded it up, so I went with the 2006 huddle photo instead.
Hays
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