<p>Scientists have developed a new type of invisibility cloak that prevents an object from being touched.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The invisibility cloak may one day lead to very thin mattresses or carpets hiding cables and pipelines below, researchers said.<br /><br />In the past years, various invisibility cloaks have been developed. <br /><br />Optical invisibility cloaks, for instance, make objects appear invisible, while others appear to let heat or sound pass uninfluenced.<br /><br />Scientists from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany have developed a mechanical invisibility cloak that prevents an object from being touched.<br /><br />The invisibility cloak is based on a so-called metamaterial that consists of a polymer. Its major properties are determined by the special structure.<br /><br />"We build the structure around the object to be hidden. In this structure, strength depends on the location in a defined way," said Tiemo Buckmann, the first author of the study.<br /><br />"The precision of the components combined with the size of the complete arrangement was one of the big obstacles to the development of the mechanical invisibility cloak," Buckmann said.<br /><br />The metamaterial is a crystalline material structured with sub-micrometer accuracy. It consists of needle-shaped cones, whose tips meet.<br /><br />The size of the contact points is calculated precisely to reach the mechanical properties desired. In this way, a structure results, through which a finger or a measurement instrument cannot feel its way, researchers said.<br /><br />In the invisibility cloak, a hard cylinder is inserted into the bottom layer. Any objects to be hidden can be put into its cavity.<br /><br />If a light foam or many layers of cotton would be placed above the hard cylinder, the cylinder would be more difficult to touch, but could still be felt as a form.<br /><br />The metamaterial structure directs the forces of the touching finger such that the cylinder is hidden completely.<br /><br />"It is like in Hans-Christian Andersen's fairy tale about the princess and the pea. The princess feels the pea in spite of the mattresses. <br /><br />When using our new material, however, one mattress would be sufficient for the princess to sleep well," Buckmann said.<br /><br />The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.</p>
<p>Scientists have developed a new type of invisibility cloak that prevents an object from being touched.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The invisibility cloak may one day lead to very thin mattresses or carpets hiding cables and pipelines below, researchers said.<br /><br />In the past years, various invisibility cloaks have been developed. <br /><br />Optical invisibility cloaks, for instance, make objects appear invisible, while others appear to let heat or sound pass uninfluenced.<br /><br />Scientists from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany have developed a mechanical invisibility cloak that prevents an object from being touched.<br /><br />The invisibility cloak is based on a so-called metamaterial that consists of a polymer. Its major properties are determined by the special structure.<br /><br />"We build the structure around the object to be hidden. In this structure, strength depends on the location in a defined way," said Tiemo Buckmann, the first author of the study.<br /><br />"The precision of the components combined with the size of the complete arrangement was one of the big obstacles to the development of the mechanical invisibility cloak," Buckmann said.<br /><br />The metamaterial is a crystalline material structured with sub-micrometer accuracy. It consists of needle-shaped cones, whose tips meet.<br /><br />The size of the contact points is calculated precisely to reach the mechanical properties desired. In this way, a structure results, through which a finger or a measurement instrument cannot feel its way, researchers said.<br /><br />In the invisibility cloak, a hard cylinder is inserted into the bottom layer. Any objects to be hidden can be put into its cavity.<br /><br />If a light foam or many layers of cotton would be placed above the hard cylinder, the cylinder would be more difficult to touch, but could still be felt as a form.<br /><br />The metamaterial structure directs the forces of the touching finger such that the cylinder is hidden completely.<br /><br />"It is like in Hans-Christian Andersen's fairy tale about the princess and the pea. The princess feels the pea in spite of the mattresses. <br /><br />When using our new material, however, one mattress would be sufficient for the princess to sleep well," Buckmann said.<br /><br />The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.</p>