/ News
Invisibility cloak made from Teflon can be created in just 15 minutes
Chinese researchers have succeeded in using a highly novel approach to craft a Teflon-based invisibility cloak in just 15 minutes. The process, called topology optimization, uses computer software to algorithmically and automatically design a material with specific qualities — such as an invisibility cloak. The design, once desired qualities have been achieved, is then produced using a 3D printer or similar computer-controlled manufacturing device.
To create a the cloak, Lu Lan and fellow researchers at Zhejiang University in China started off with a computer model of a solid object surrounded by some kind of material. The model simulates how the material bends and distorts electromagnetic radiation (light, microwaves, etc.) around the object. Using some kind of algorithm (possibly genetic), the software then slowly alters the shape and design of the material to achieve a certain end goal. In this case, as the end goal is invisibility, the computer model is trying to create a material that can surround an object while causing as little distortion as possible.
Historically, invisibility cloaks have generally been fashioned out of metamaterials — man-made materials that have weird and wacky properties not found in nature. Metamaterials can have a negative refractive index, allowing for materials that can bend light around an object without distortion. The problem is, it’s hard and time-consuming (and thus expensive) to create a cloak out of metamaterials — which is why researchers are looking at alternative solutions, such as simple mirrors or Teflon.
The Teflon invisibility cloak (left). A and B are the electromagnetic signature without the cloak; C and D are with.
Teflon, also known by its generic name of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), is popularly used as a non-stick coating on frying pans and other objects, but as far as the Chinese researchers are concerned it’s just a rugged polymer that can easily be engraved to the specifications dictated by the topology optimization. Once the computer model has finished its optimization, the computed topology is sent to a Jingdiao CNC engraving machine (pictured right), which fashions the Teflon into the exact shape and patterning required.
According to Technology Review, this is the first time that topological optimization — which is a fairly mature area of computer science and applied physics — has been made manifest in the physical realm. It took just 15 minutes for the CNC machine to create the cloak out of Teflon, too.
The finished cloak, which resembles an eyelid, successfully cloaks a metal disc that’s roughly the size of a poker chip from microwaves. According to the researchers, it should be possible to build a cloak that works with visible light, too, though (for some reason) they haven’t done it yet. A lot more work will need to be done to create materials that can cloak a broad range of frequencies from a wide range of angles, but in general the concept is sound. The possibility of a real-world, Harry Potteresque invisibility cloak creeps slowly forward.
Research paper: arXiv:1308.6049 - “Experimentally demonstrated an unidirectional electromagnetic cloak designed by topology optimization”
Source: http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/166116-invisibility-cloak-made-from-teflon-can-be-created-in-just-15-minutes
/ About us
Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
/ Follow us at:
/ Contact:
For additional information, partnerships and sponsorship, contact:
info@2045.com
Media requesting information and interviews, contact PR@2045.com
LinkedIn
LiveJournal
Google
Twitter
Facebook
Я.ру
ВКонтакте
Mail.ru