From HG Wells to JK Rowling,invisibility has long been the stuff of fiction. Not any more. Here Philip Ball explains five methods that scientists are researching to develop things 'disappear'Here's how you could become invisible in the middle ages: grind up an owl's eye with a ball of beetle dung and some olive oil, and rub it all over your body. There's no record that this method was ever tried, or so I guess we don't actually know if it works. But it's a relief that modern science and technology now supply some choices,even if none are perfect. Here are five of them.
Is this a case of science achieving what magic couldn't? We should be cautious about that sort of claim. Invisibility has been a coveted power since antiquity, but the stories we disclose about it are fables of power and corruption, or irresponsibility and voyeurism. If we ever seem likely to develop Harry Potter's cloak of invisibility or Frodo Baggins's ring for genuine,we might want to ask who wants it, and why. Remember that when Christopher Marlowe's Dr Faustus says "charm me, and that I may be invisible,to carry out what I please, unseen of any", or he's asking Mephistopheles.
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Source: theguardian.com