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I, Science 8 June 2006
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MAY: Harry Potter's invisibility cloak may not be so far-fetched after all.

Two leading mathematicians have claimed that we may one day be able to make solid objects invisible to the naked eye. The theory relies on developing a cloaking material using superlenses, invented at Imperial College.

The team, led by Professor Graeme Milton at Utah University, calculated that when objects are placed near a superlens, the light reflecting off them could be cancelled out by light from the lens.

"Effectively, they are making a piece of space seem to disappear, at least as far as light is concerned," explained Professor Sir John Pendry of Imperial, pioneer of the superlens.

At this early stage the paper, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, refers only to cloaking specks of dust, although the authors do argue that larger objects could one day be possible. The effect only works at certain wavelengths of light however, and some objects could become just partially invisible.

Professor Pendry commented on the potential uses for the technology: "The secret is having the cloak itself be invisible and if you can do that cheaply and efficiently� it would be extremely valuable for stealth. Even if you could cloak a single frequency, it would be very useful. The military is extremely interested in this."

"We will do everything in our powers to prevent this technology from falling into muggle hands," said a spokesperson from the Ministry of Magic.