The ability to become invisible has long been the stuff of fantasy films such as the Harry Potter series. But the invisibility cloak could become a reality following a scientific breakthrough by a 22-year-old student.
Janos Perczel, an undergraduate at St Andrews University, says that the optical sphere he has developed could make objects invisible.
He has claimed that by slowing down light by way of an optical illusion, the light can then be bent around an object to 'conceal' it.
Mr Perczel added: "When the light is bent it engulfs the object, much like water covering a rock sitting in a river bed, and carries on its path, making it seem as if nothing is there."
The key development lies in the ability of the sphere, an optical device, not only to remain invisible itself but to slow light.
According to "invisibility expert" Prof Leonhardt, who teaches at St Andrews' school of physics and astronomy，all optical illusions can slow down rays of light and the sphere can be used to bend this illusion around an object, reflecting off it and making it appear to be invisible.
Mr Perczel came up with the idea under the guidance of Professor Ulf Leonhardt.
Attempts have already been made to create invisibility cloaks but research shows that efforts are limited because any cloak would only work within certain backgrounds.
But by slowing down the rays of light, Mr Perczel says the cloak wearer can move around ever-changing backgrounds.
A spokesman for the Institute of Physics said: "This new development opens up further possibilities for the design of a practical invisibility cloak, overcoming the problem of light speed which other advances have struggled to address and, very impressively, this significant advance was achieved by an undergraduate student."


据英国《每日邮报》8月10日报道，隐身的能力一直都是像《哈利•波特》系列类的科幻电影不可或缺的卖点，但一名22岁的学生取得的科学突破却有可能将隐形斗篷带到现实生活中。

英国圣安德鲁斯大学在校学生加诺斯•派采尔称，他研发的光纤球能使事物隐形。

他称，通过一种光幻觉可以使光线变得迟缓，从而光线可以弯绕着物体而达到"隐形"效果。

派采尔补充说："当光线弯曲时，它会吞没物体，就像河床里的水漫过岩石后会继续流淌，好像它流过的地方什么都没有。"

研究的关键在于光纤球的功能开发，这种光学设备不仅要保持自身的隐形，还要能使光线减速。

根据任教于圣安德鲁斯大学物理与天文学系"隐形专家"里奥哈茨的理论，所有的光幻觉都能延迟光束，而球体则可以使这种光幻觉覆盖在物体上，反射物体上的光线，使其看似无形。


派采尔正是在里奥哈茨教授的指导下提出了他的构想。

虽然人们已开始尝试创造隐形斗篷，但研究表明，人们努力的方向仅限于制造出在特定背景下才会发挥作用的隐形斗篷。

但是，通过减慢光束，派采尔说，穿着斗篷的人可以移动到任何背景下而不现形。

物理学会发言人说："这项新发展增加了设计出实用隐形斗篷的可能性，克服了其他发明难以处理的光速问题。让人印象深刻的是，这项重大的进展还是由一名在校大学生取得的。"

• ability [ə´biliti] n.(办事)能力；才干 (初中英语单词)
• invisible [in´vizəbəl] a.看不见的；无形的 (初中英语单词)
• series [´siəri:z] n.连续；系列；丛书 (初中英语单词)
• reality [ri´æliti] n.现实(性)；真实；逼真 (初中英语单词)
• scientific [,saiən´tifik] a.科学(上)的 (初中英语单词)
• device [di´vais] n.装置；器具；策略 (初中英语单词)
• research [ri´sə:tʃ] n.&vi.调查；探究；研究 (初中英语单词)
• institute [´institju:t] n.学院 vt.建立；设置 (初中英语单词)
• sphere [sfiə] n.圆体；天体；范围 (高中英语单词)
• illusion [i´lu:ʒən] n.幻觉；幻影；错觉 (高中英语单词)
• limited [´limitid] a.有限(制)的 (高中英语单词)
• significant [sig´nifikənt] a.重要的；意义重大的 (高中英语单词)
• guidance [´gaidəns] n.向导，指导，领导 (英语四级单词)
• fantasy [´fæntəsi] n.幻想(曲)，想象 (英语六级单词)
• spokesman [´spəuksmən] n.发言人 (英语六级单词)