Invisibility cloak 'to be unveiled within months'

Sydney, Apr 4 (ANI): Your dream of possessing a Harry Potter invisibility cloak could be just months away, at least that's what a British scientist claims.

Sir John Pendry, who pioneered the concept, believes that the cloak that can make an object disappear could be unveiled within next six months.

"The first man-made cloak will be more like an invisibility "carpet", the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Pendry as saying.

As a tiny object is placed underneath it, it will seemingly disappear because the bump the object makes will be hidden from view with an artificial mirage.

Pendry said that the new development would also prove the potential of metamaterials that have an unusual property to interact with light and electronic waves.

These materials could be, in future, used for developing barriers to prevent waves damaging the shore, acoustic cloaks to reduce noise, stealth systems for the military, and faster telecommunications.

They can be designed to hide things by bending radiation around an object as if it were not there, "like water flowing around a stone", said Professor Pendry.

Pendry had discussed about the new materials in a lecture in the US, backing it with the example of Harry Potter.

"I said one of the interesting things they could do is hide things," said Pendry.

The example prompted David Smith of Duke University to build an invisibility cloak.

"They went back and built the darn thing," Pendry added.

In 2006, he unveiled the first cloak, which steered radiation around a copper cylinder, making it invisible to microwave detection.

"I am optimistic work in progress will produce an optical cloak in the next six months," said Pendry. (ANI)