INVISIBLE CLOAK PERFECTED: Undergraduate Student Overcomes Major Hurdle to Invisibility Cloak

[Sorry, no image or photo...I mean really now, how do you photograph something that just isn't there...]

Published 10 August 2011

An undergraduate student has overcome a major hurdle in the development of invisibility cloaks by adding an optical device into their design which not only remains invisible itself, but also has the ability to slow down light; the innovation open up the possibility for a potential invisibility cloak wearer to move around amongst ever-changing backgrounds of a variety of colors

An undergraduate student has overcome a major hurdle in the development of invisibility cloaks by adding an optical device into their design which not only remains invisible itself, but also has the ability to slow down light.

The optical device, known as an “invisible sphere,” would slow down all of the light that approaches a potential cloak, meaning that the light rays would not need to be accelerated around the cloaked objects at great speeds — a requirement that has limited invisibility cloaks to work only in a specified region of the visible spectrum.

This new research, published 9 August in the Institute of Physics and German Physical Society’s New Journal of Physics, could open up the possibility for a potential invisibility cloak wearer to move around amongst ever-changing backgrounds of a variety of colors.

Institute of Physics release reports that Hungarian-born Janos Perczel, who is studying Logic, Philosophy of Science, and Physics at the University of St Andrews and who works under the guidance of Professor Ulf Leonhardt, acknowledged the huge potential of the invisible sphere and was able to fine-tune it so that it was a suitable background for cloaking.

Iran to Deploy Higher-Orbiting Satellite

Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011

A planned Iranian-built satellite would circle the earth at an altitude of more than 22,000 miles, far higher than orbiters previously deployed by the Middle Eastern nation, the Iranian Students' News Agency reported on Monday (see GSN, July 13).

Students at Iran's Sharif University of Technology would build the craft, "the last student satellite series which is to be fired into space," university president Reza Rosta-Azad told the news agency.

The lower orbits of Iran's previously launched satellites have limited the amount of time they could remain in space, he said (Iranian Students' News Agency, Aug. 9). Tehran last month indicated it had deployed its Rasad 1 satellite at an orbit of roughly 160 miles, the Xinhua News Agency reported (Xinhua News Agency, Aug. 9).

"Satellites should be sent into space when the launch power is raised, so that they would remain in space for a long time to work more effectively," Rosta-Azad told ISNA. "The first Iranian satellite launched into space managed to remain for two months (see GSN, Feb. 3, 2009). The second one which is able to take photos was placed at a higher altitude and has a more lifespan."

Iran would formally announce the new orbiter at a later date, he said (Iranian Students' News Agency).

The United States and other countries closely monitor Iranian space developments, as the same ballistic missile technology that is used to launch satellites can also be used to fire warheads, according to Xinhua. Iran's continuing nuclear development is suspected by Washington and other governments of being secretly aimed at attaining a weapons capability, a charge Tehran strongly denies (Xinhua News Agency)
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LIBYA > US Joins 30 Countries in Recognizing Libyan Rebels

David Gollust | Istanbul July 15, 2011

image courtesy of lmliberty.us

The United States joined 30 other countries Friday in formally recognizing Libya’s opposition Transitional National Council as the “legitimate governing authority." The decision announced at a meeting of the international Libya Contact Group in Turkey, will increase pressure on Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and allow the transfer of impounded Libyan funds to the rebels.

The United States had previously only referred to the opposition TNC as Libya’s “legitimate interlocutor.”

It made the decision to join other contact group members in full political recognition after the council’s leader, Mahmoud Jibril, presented a detailed plan here for a transition to an inclusive democracy once Mr. Gadhafi yields to international pressure to step aside.

VOA's Susan Yackee speaks with Robert Powell of the Economist Intelligence Unit in New York about the US recognizing Libya's rebel TNC:

U.S. officials said the meeting broke into spontaneous applause when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the move, which could eventually free billions of dollars in Libyan money frozen in U.S. banks for the financially hard-pressed TNC.

Clinton told reporters the decision was based on the progress the TNC has made in laying groundwork for a transition to a “unified, democratic Libya” which protects the rights of all its citizens including women and minority groups.

“Until an interim authority is in place, the United States will recognize the TNC as the legitimate governing authority for Libya and we will deal with it on that basis," Said Clinton. "In contrast, the United States views the Gadhafi regime as no longer having legitimate authority in Libya.”

Senior administration officials said nearly $32 billion in frozen Libyan assets will remain in U.S. banks until legal issues can be ironed out.

They said one option would be to let the TNC borrow against the sum until direct transfers can be authorized by, among others, the United Nations sanctions committee.

At a Contact Group plenary session, Turkish Foreign Minister and conference chairman Ahmet Davutoglu said the TNC’s financial needs are acute.

“Above all the elevation of the TNC’s urgent need for cash is of primary importance as we approach the holy month of Ramadan," he said. "In this respect, I would like to encourage all our partners in the Contact Group to consider opening credit lines to the TNC, amounting to a certain percentage of the Libyan frozen assets in their country. As such, Turkey has already opened a credit line of $200 million to the TNC.

France and Italy, among the early countries to accord the TNC full recognition, also announced new financial pledges.

Clinton told the conference the international community needs to “plan in earnest” for Libya’s future after Mr. Gadhafi. She told reporters the TNC’s road map for a new democratic Libya was convincing, but that the process will not be easy.

“We believe them," she said. "We believe that’s what they intend to do. We are well aware of how difficult and challenging the road ahead them is. We are a long way from the kind of implementation that we all seek. We can watch what’s happening in their neighbors, which had strong institutions. And here we have a country in Libya where it was part of Colonel Gadhafi’s modus operandi to have no institutions.”

Senior officials said the United States will continue to be represented in the TNC stronghold of Benghazi by senior U.S. diplomat Chris Stevens and there will be no immediate move to set up a formal American mission there. The Obama administration some time ago halted contacts with Libya’s Washington embassy and expelled pro-Gadhafi diplomats.