'Darkness Beam' is a gun that makes things invisible

It seems the stuff of cartoons and sci-fi movies could be closer to reality, as researchers have developed a device that can make things invisible with a "darkness beam."

 

A team from the National University of Singapore used special lenses to enhance the light surrounding an object, effectively hiding it from sight.

 

"This new scheme of maneuvering light creates a plethora of possibilities for optical imaging systems, superb surveillance by seeing things behind for the military use, or cloaking the object surrounded by high field intensity," Wired.com quoted Chao Wan from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the National University of Singapore as saying.

 

Dubbed an "anti-resolution" beam, the technology could lead to an invisibility gun, Wired.com added.

 

In their study, the researchers said they "theoretically and experimentally demonstrate the focusing of macroscopic 3D darkness surrounded by all light in free space."

 

"The object staying in the darkness is similar to staying in an empty light capsule because light just bypasses it by resorting to destructive interference. Its functionality of controlling the direction of energy flux of light macroscopically is fascinating, similar in some sense to the transformation-based cloaking effect," they said. — TJD, GMA News