Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label visible

Paint to Make Things Invisible

If you move as fast as superman you may be able to make yourself invisible, but for the ordinary person it is just not possible. Theories exist though that "prove" it is possible to make yourself invisible. Doctor Jensen Li and Professor John Pendry have written a paper which surmises making invisible paint. Such material has to be extremely thin, having a structure smaller than the wavelength of visible light. Scientists have already made a small object invisible by cloaking it in a material comprised of tiny structures. If a material can be developed from nano-sized pieces it could be painted on an object and it would "bend" the light away from sight, i.e., the background would be visible. Such a material has to be made from silica and silicon because variation in interpreting light is necessary. A person viewing a cloaked object would see a mirage of the background. Don't be too hasty though - we are not in the Star Trek world yet. A person would experie

Believe it - X-ray with Cellotape

It is possible to see through sticky tape. But such tape can also help you see through things! The action of peeling tape off a roll actually produces x-rays.If the tape is quickly stuck to a finger bones become visible. This was not discovered by someone actually seeing that this happens, even though it has been obvious for anyone to see for years. People are funny that way - put something under their nose and they won't see it. Actually, it was discovered by Russian scientists who noticed that peeling tape from a roll created bursts of x-rays seen on a meter. The Russians increased x-ray emissions by peeling the tape off in a vacuum. The scientists were shocked to make the discovery. They could not believe that no one had actually observed this occurring by trial and error. It works by triboluminescence. When tape is pulled from the roll the sticky acrylic becomes positively charged, while the roll remains negatively charged. For a billionth of a second the negative ions on t