Article Details
Metamaterials Could Build Invisible Cloak And Speed Up Internet |
| Date Added: August 14, 2008 08:02:30 PM |
| Author: John Vinson |
| Category: Technology |
| If you’ve been keeping up with the invisibility cloak technology, there’s been some progress as of late. Harry Potter fans have probably already created a countdown, and started a savings account to prepare for an invisibility cloak release. While the invisibility cloak would be a really cool invention, the technology behind it could lead to more practical applications.Metamaterials is a really ground breaking technology, and one that could lead to the next advancement in many different computer technologies. Metamaterials is a simple technology to understand, as all it does is slow down and bend the reflection of light. It’s this bending of light that could lead to the invisibility cloak, and faster internet speeds.If you know about fiber optics and the internet, then you know why there’s delays when information is being sent. If not then it’s simple. When information is first sent out, it travels through the cable as light. Then when it reaches its destination it must then be reverted back into electric impulses. It’s within this conversion that you get your slow speeds and hitches. With metamaterials the information could theoretically never have to be converted into electricity, and could be sent to your computer as a light signal. Light based transmissions can handle a much greater number of memory than electric. Although we’re far off from using metamaterials in our everyday life, it’s being heavily researched. With the practical applications that it could one day have, I don’t think we’re too far off from seeing it in our everyday lives. |
