
I think Orange got there first...
My phone seems to be invisible to their microwaves half the time!
Invisibility-investigating boffins have managed for the first time to cloak a three-dimensional object in free space – but only from microwaves. Credit: D Rainwater et al 2012 New Journal of Physics (click to enlarge) Rather than bending light around the object, an 18cm cylindrical tube, the researchers used "plasmonic …
I agree, the article was light on details. However, the tone of the headline would suggest that the concept has been covered before in The Reg.
To answer your question, the point is to keep Reg readers up to date with small progressions in an ongoing area of research. It is fairly clear that the important word in the article is "metamaterials".
I would recommend to everyone have a glance at the Wikepedia article that results from searching for the above word- some interesting concepts to muddle the brain with!
Making an invisible shed is but one of many potential (hopefully maybe!) applications across a broad range of disciplines.
In a longer answer, not quite, no, the principles between how the two operate are completely different. The B2 paint minimises the radar footprint of the plane, it works by being highly absorbing to "radar" frequencies, as radar detection of objects relies on receiving reflected "radar" waves from objects it kind-of hides the planes. I say kind of because it's not perfect, and if a receiver was placed in line of sight of the "radar" source and the plane flew between there would be a massive gap in the received spectrum. A "meta-material cloak" designed to work at radar frequencies would make it seem like the object was completely transparent to "radar", no back reflected waves, and no distortion to the received signal in a line of sight system.
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