--- title: Scientists Are Getting Closer to an Invisibility Cloak description: Scientists are getting closer to creating a real life invisibility cloak. canonical: https://time.com/4042506/invisibility-cloak/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-21T15:03:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:01:34.693Z article:section: Health og:title: Scientists Are Getting Closer to an Invisibility Cloak og:description: Some small breakthroughs are slowly moving the science forward og:url: https://time.com/4042506/invisibility-cloak/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Scientists Are Getting Closer to an Invisibility Cloak twitter:description: Some small breakthroughs are slowly moving the science forward twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Scientists Are Getting Closer to an Invisibility Cloak ## Video: Tech Time: Is Face Scanning the Future of Security? [Watch (HLS stream): Tech Time: Is Face Scanning the Future of Security?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kCXAmgKD.m3u8) (1:53)  _Published 2015-08-24. Using Biometrics, some companies are making it so that you never have to remember a password again. But is it really the most secure method? TIME Tech Editor Alex Fitzpatrick weighs in._ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Sep 21, 2015 3:03 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Sep 21, 2015 3:03 PM UTC Scientists are getting closer to creating a real-life invisibility cloak. A [new study](http://www.sciencemag.org/content/349/6254/1310.short) published in the journal _Science_ shows scientists have created what they are calling a “ultrathin invisibility skin cloak for visible light.” The cloak has been shown to cover an object and—by manipulating certain wavelengths of light—render it invisible. Light plays a central role in how we see objects.[ According to the Los Angeles _Times_](http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-tiny-invisibility-cloak-gold-metamaterial-20150917-story.html), usually light bounces off of things and becomes distorted, which helps a person see the angles and curves of an object. However, the LA _Times_ writes that the cloak is covered with “nanoantennas made of tiny gold blocks of different sizes that can counteract that distortion, making it seem to an observer like the light is coming from a flat surface.” The cloak is 80 nanometers thick, which is a bonus since the study authors [say](http://www.sciencemag.org/content/349/6254/1310.short) prior attempts have been too bulky and therefore difficult to scale up. Still, the current cloak only covers a very tiny object, so there’s a long way to go before people can make themselves invisible or hard to see. Other research teams are also looking into the creation of an invisibility cloak. In early July, University of California, San Diego researchers designed their own early version. “Invisibility may seem like magic at first, but its underlying concepts are familiar to everyone. All it requires is a clever manipulation of our perception,” Boubacar Kanté, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering [said in a statement about his work](http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/engineers%5Fgive%5Finvisibility%5Fcloaks%5Fa%5Fslimmer%5Fdesign). “Full invisibility still seems beyond reach today, but it might become a reality in the near future thanks to recent progress in cloaking devices.” ### The Wildest Concept Cars of 2014  Anybody can take Chevy's Chaparral 2x Vision concept car for a spin — anybody with Gran Turismo 6 for the Sony PlayStation, anyway, where the car is a playable download. Gene Blevins—LA DailyNews/Corbis  One day, we'll all finally get to ride those light-cycles from Tron. For now, there's Toyota's FV2 concept car. Joe Klamar—AFP/Getty Images  Doors? Where you're going in the Smart Brabus FourJoy concept car, you don't need doors. Bloomberg/Getty Images  The pickup truck hasn't really changed much in decades — until Volkswagen took it on with this Tristar concept car, which takes a pickup and makes it super offroad-friendly. Fabian Bimmer—Reuters/Corbis  Nissan's 3-seat electric BladeGlider concept car might actually make it to production, pretty rare for a concept car this wild. If a Jedi Knight drove a car, it would be the BladeGlider. Gene Blevins—LA DailyNews/Corbis  Toyota hasn't said much about its high-riding C-HR Concept crossover, but we know that it's purple. Very purple. Benoit Tessier—Reuters/Corbis  Maserati says its Alfieri concept car represents "the future of Maserati design." Too bad most of us can't conceptualize being able to afford a Maserati any time soon. Pierre Albouy—AFP/Getty Images  Mercedes-Benz's G-Code concept SUV comes covered in what the company calls "multi-voltaic silver" paint that's supposed to act like one big solar cell. It's all very green — err, "multi-voltaic silver." Kim Kyung-Hoon—Reuters/Corbis  It somehow doesn't feel like this car, designed by Russian artist Gosha Ostretsov, will fly off the shelves. But that's okay, because it's more art exhibit than commercial vehicle. 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