A material that can bend electromagnetic radiation could lead to improved mobile reception in built up areas, according to a new study.
Although the popular science fiction idea of the ‘cloaking device’ conjures up images of people, ojects and vehicles becoming invisible, research into ‘cloaking’ technology looks at bending all kinds of electromagnetic radiation around objects – not just visible light.
The defence applications of ‘cloaking’ are obvious – but a simple peacetime application exists that could benefit us all.
Scientists have developed a ‘metamaterial’ that can bend certain electromagnetic frequencies around an object. Although the full invisibility cloak may be some way off, it is possible that such materials could be used to cover objects such as buildings or antennae to prevent them from causing interference in mobile and wifi signals, resulting in clearer, low-power communications over longer distances.
“You might have two or more antennas trying to ‘see’ or receive signals, one being blocked by the other,” said David Smith of Duke University in North Carolina, “You could imagine adding cloaks that would make one antenna invisible to the next, so that they no longer interfered.”
Source: Reuters, via Yahoo
