As we all know, light is both a particle and a wave, blowing the minds of eighth-grade physics classes across the world. This makes light fun for scientists to play with because it’s a form of energy that can be interrupted fairly easily. By, like, say, using it to hide something from the fourth freaking dimension.
Wait, what? How is that possible? It’s like this. A beam of light is fired through a device. The device uses a “split-time” lens, which sounds like Lex Luthor’s latest plot, but is an actual thing, and a dispersive medium. Before the light hits the area you want to cloak, the lens shifts it to a bluer (i.e. faster) wavelength. Then, when it comes to the area you want to cloak, the lens shifts it again, to a redder (i.e. faster) wavelength.
The net result is a gap in the beam, inside the cloaking device, of about 50 picoseconds. If you observe the beam, it looks like there’s no gap. In short, with this device, you can literally hide from time. For a little bit.
[ via Ars Technica ]
Science: awesome and creepy at the same time!