Invisibility cloaks, for real?

 

I would so want one if these ever actually got made.  It appears that Harry Potter style invisibility cloaks may not be that impossible to actually make.

 

Researchers have demonstrated for the first time they were able to cloak three-dimensional objects using artificially engineered materials that redirect light around the objects. Previously, they only have been able to cloak very thin two-dimensional objects.

 

The findings, by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, led by Xiang Zhang, are to be released later this week in the journals Nature and Science.

 

The new work moves scientists a step closer to hiding people and objects from visible light, which could have broad applications , including military ones.

 

Screw the military.  I want one.  Of course, even if these do get made, you know they'll never be made available for consumer purchase.  Can you imagine the immediate skyrocketing of crime rates as invisible bandits everywhere started robbing banks and liquor stores?  Or the sheer number of lawsuits that would start from the families of people who die after being hit by a car while crossing the street under their cloaks?

 

If people really could run around invisible, the world would devolve into chaos pretty quickly I'm sure.  But still, it's nice to dream of just me having one.