Acoustic cloaking device unveiled.

[dragonslayer32]

Hello fellow Escapists, I came across this article today http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13905573

So, what do you all think? pPersonally, I'm quite excited about this, I know it isn't huge but I see it as a major move forward in science.

Also, what do you think it could be used for?

 

[Kolby Jack]

I can't wait to see how we'll use it on a gun.

 

[Zeekar]

I can't wait to see how we'll use it on a gun.

Implying a true silencer? Potentially scary stuff that the inventor could never have anticipated.

 

[The Apothecarry]

"It uses simple plastic sheets with arrays of holes, and could be put to use in making ships invisible to sonar or in acoustic design of concert halls."

I can see it being used in designing concert halls, but wouldn't holes in ships be a bad thing?

 

[Kolby Jack]

I can't wait to see how we'll use it on a gun.

Implying a true silencer? Potentially scary stuff that the inventor could never have anticipated.

That's how inventions work. It's all a cycle:

1. Inventor invents new technology.

2. Inventor: "This could change the world! We can use it to renovate culture, make life easier, make people happier!"

3. Military: "Yea, that's cool... hey! How about we make it into a weapon?"

4. Military makes weapon

5. Weapon used to kill people

6. Inventor: "What have I done?!" *suicide*


Ahhhh, progress. Nothing like it.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

I can't wait to see how we'll use it on a gun.

Implying a true silencer? Potentially scary stuff that the inventor could never have anticipated.

That's how inventions work. It's all a cycle:

1. Inventor invents new technology.

2. Inventor: "This could change the world! We can use it to renovate culture, make life easier, make people happier!"

3. Military: "Yea, that's cool... hey! How about we make it into a weapon?"

4. Military makes weapon

5. Weapon used to kill people

6. Inventor: "What have I done?!" *suicide*


Ahhhh, progress. Nothing like it.

Nope. That's why I've declined to invent anything.

 

[Avatar Roku]

"It uses simple plastic sheets with arrays of holes, and could be put to use in making ships invisible to sonar or in acoustic design of concert halls."

I can see it being used in designing concert halls, but wouldn't holes in ships be a bad thing?

I was going to say it could be like an underlay (as in, between 2 layers of the hull), but I really don't see how they could do that and have it still cloak the ship. Granted, I don't think either of us really has an understanding of how this works, but still.

 

[Scrubiii]

"It uses simple plastic sheets with arrays of holes, and could be put to use in making ships invisible to sonar or in acoustic design of concert halls."

I can see it being used in designing concert halls, but wouldn't holes in ships be a bad thing?

Presumably it is just an outer layer over the normal hull of the ship.

OT: Sounds like it could have some very interesting stealth applications if it is invisible to sonar. The article mentions it was discovered while they were trying to find a way to make something invisible to light waves. I am much more interested to see how that turns out.

If they do manage to work that out though, this will probably become far more useful. If an object could be made invisible to sound and light waves, it would be completely undetectable. Living things would only be able to be detected with infrared so work on a way to effectively cloak that and you'll have real invisibility.

 

[Dr Ampersand]

Call this a stupid question, but if it works with a plastic sheet with holes on it, won't sound waves bounce off of the non holey parts? Granted they could use plastic that absorbs sound very well but wouldn't that just be acoustic shielding and not 100% acoustic invisibility.