Hmm..."in theory"

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A new way of assembling things, called metamaterials, may in the not too distant future help to protect a building from earthquakes by bending seismic waves around it. Similarly, tsunami waves could be bent around towns, and soundwaves bent around a room to make it soundproof.

While the holy grail of metamaterials is still to make objects and people invisible to the eye, they are set to have a more tangible commercial impact playing more mundane roles - from satellite antennas to wirelessly charging cellphones.

Metamaterials are simply materials that exhibit properties not found in nature, such as the way they absorb or reflect light. The key is in how they're made. By assembling the material - from photonic crystals to wire and foam - at a scale smaller than the length of the wave you're seeking to manipulate, the wave can, in theory, be bent to will.

This makes metamaterials the tool of choice for scientists racing to build all sorts of wave-cloaking devices, including the so-called invisibility cloak - a cover to render whatever's inside effectively invisible by bending light waves around it.


more @
http://news.yahoo.com/making-waves-hunt-invisibility-other-benefits-seen-210436733--sector.html

Fascinating! I wonder if this could work in space, since there is no atmosphere, then sound has no way of transmitting.

Quote from: Solar on December 25, 2013, 02:48:13 PM
Fascinating! I wonder if this could work in space, since there is no atmosphere, then sound has no way of transmitting.

Hmm...sound will not travel where there no atmosphere like space.  But space does has gasses that sounds can travel through.  Depending on how dense the gas are will determine speed and distance. 

Quote from: walkstall on December 25, 2013, 03:42:51 PM
Hmm...sound will not travel where there no atmosphere like space.  But space does has gasses that sounds can travel through.  Depending on how dense the gas are will determine speed and distance.

Sound doesn't travel in a vacuum. Granted, it depends on the frequency, so some sound does travel but the human voice would not travel beyond the area of the helmet, even a gun shot would not be heard beyond the barrel.

Quote from: Solar on December 25, 2013, 04:03:30 PM
Sound doesn't travel in a vacuum. Granted, it depends on the frequency, so some sound does travel but the human voice would not travel beyond the area of the helmet, even a gun shot would not be heard beyond the barrel.

Hmm... I know this is not the Political board. 

Pray tell why does sound travel from Liberals then? 

Quote from: walkstall on December 25, 2013, 05:55:34 PM
Hmm... I know this is not the Political board. 

Pray tell why does sound travel from Liberals then? 

Hot Air?