The Invisibility Tunnel - Electromagnetic "wormholes" from metamaterials - Softpedia

The Invisibility Tunnel - Electromagnetic "wormholes" from metamaterials - Softpedia: "The invisibility is descending from fiction and movies to reality. New measurements show how to build an electromagnetic 'wormhole', an invisible tube from both sides, that allows the light to pass down the unseen center.

The idea is based on the technology of the spherical invisibility cloak proposed in 2006.

An invisibility cloak should be built of metamaterial, a thicket of metal rings or other elements that manipulate light. The hollow shell of metamaterial would direct light off its inner space without slowing down, making the hole invisible to an outside watcher. 'But the invisibility cuts both ways. If light does not enter, then whatever is in the cloak cannot see outside,' said mathematician Allan Greenleaf of the University of Rochester.

That's why Greenleaf came with an opposite idea. His team wants to manipulate light employing an open tube with flared ends. A straight-on view would render visible the cylinder. "