marche Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 In popular science fiction, the power of invisibility is readily apparent. Star Trek fans, for example, know that the devious Romulans could make their spaceships suddenly disappear. But is the idea really so implausible? Not according to new findings by scientists who say they have come up with a way to create cloaking device. Electronic engineers at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia are researching a device they say could make objects "nearly invisible to an observer." The contrivance works by preventing light from bouncing off the surface of an object, causing the object to appear so small it all but disappears. Read more of the story: Invisibility Shields Planned by Engineers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 I wonder if it would work in a shower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VonHelton Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 But is the idea really so implausible? Not according to new findings by scientists who say they have come up with a way to create cloaking device. Yep! Ain't it wonderful?? :cyclops: :p :stare: :D ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marche Posted March 3, 2005 Author Share Posted March 3, 2005 Which makes me to ask again: why didnt Starfleet use cloaking technology? im sure in the 24th century they have access to that kind of technology Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindTrick Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 Correct me if i'm wrong, but i'm pretty sure the reason star fleet didn't use cloaking tech was due to some sort of treaty. And they did use cloaking tech, just not on star ships with the exception of the defiant class. It was mostly kept it to research outposts on pre-warp planets (ie insurrection). I know there is a TNG episode, the one with the phased cloak story line, that does a bit of a job explaining it.... I'll have to look it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VonHelton Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 Correct me if i'm wrong, but i'm pretty sure the reason star fleet didn't use cloaking tech was due to some sort of treaty. And they did use cloaking tech, just not on star ships with the exception of the defiant class. It was mostly kept it to research outposts on pre-warp planets (ie insurrection). I know there is a TNG episode, the one with the phased cloak story line, that does a bit of a job explaining it.... I'll have to look it up. The treaty with the Romulans is in Picard's day, not Kirks! ....In fact, I think Kirk installed a cloaking device to the Enterprise in oe TOS episode! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karimw786 Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 Correct me if i'm wrong, but i'm pretty sure the reason star fleet didn't use cloaking tech was due to some sort of treaty. And they did use cloaking tech, just not on star ships with the exception of the defiant class. It was mostly kept it to research outposts on pre-warp planets (ie insurrection). I know there is a TNG episode, the one with the phased cloak story line, that does a bit of a job explaining it.... I'll have to look it up. It's the Treaty of Algeron that prevents the Federation (not just Star Fleet) from developping cloaking technology. Refer to TNG episode "The Pegasus" for more information. It's a season 7 episode, FYI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 It's amazing what a quick google can come up with... http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/C/cloaking_device.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Engineer101 Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 i heard u can produce the same effects at a cheaper rate by just using a mirror coating on space craft in ships. but it doesnt really protect u at all. it just bounces back reflections. only the wiseably CHEAPASS will use it (knowing that the US would do it( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamp Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 i'm quite confused by the physics of this. if it didn't reflect light then wouldn't it be black!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rashind Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 i'm quite confused by the physics of this. if it didn't reflect light then wouldn't it be black!! Well, yes. But being pure black is damn good camoflage in space. You'd have to get very close to something that reflected NO light to see it, or you'd have to be looking at something(a particular star) and wait for it to pass between you. A mirrored hull wouldn't work as well, because you would see a shifting little body of swirling points of light shifting around. the best camoflaging method I can imagine would be something that detects light at one point on a ship, and re-emits immediately at the opposite point on the ship. I heard they(military scientists) were working on something similar to this a few years ago. It would be detectable by continuous parallax errors(things behind it would appear wavy... like the predator)... If the tech were sufficiently refined, we might successfully make something completely undetectable on the visible spectrum... which isn't incredibly useful, because we don't have such simple ways to mask infrared, for instance... so we just make sure our enemies(or whoever we're hiding from) have to invest in infrared detection capabilities. I think building these "cloaks" would be a lot more expensive than infrared detectors, so it's probably a pretty poor investment, if fighting an enemy with any tech at all... and if they don't have that basic of a technology, we aren't hurting for an edge, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oma Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 Yeah, and if your craft can't give off infrared light (=heat) then it just ends up very hot on the inside - then you'd need an efficient heat-sink that could be cooled down by e.g. an extendable radiator-fin when the stealth isn't required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psheldrake1 Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 Got that right Oma. They need to address the heat problems. It won't matter how well you're hidden if they ram something up you're tail pipe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VonHelton Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 Wait a minute...... Isn't it cold in space? Or am I missing something?? :stare: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maverick Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 i cant see this happening. ha ha, get it? cant see this happening? oh, wot eva Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremeskiing Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 invisibility is good, i play paintball using digital camoflage. my biggest advantage is that im the only person that I know that has this. for almost all purposes, I am invisible. I have no idea why I am saying this, im sick, I just woke up. cant think of anything better to say. whatever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VonHelton Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 i cant see this happening. *in my best "Bart Simpson" voice: "No way, man!" :stare: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oma Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 Wait a minute...... Isn't it cold in space? Or am I missing something?? :stare: It's cold (very) - and that is exactly why ANY leak of heat from a spacecraft will look like a flare in infrared - the cold makes the contrast bigger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Relentless Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 In popular science fiction, the power of invisibility is readily apparent. Star Trek fans, for example, know that the devious Romulans could make their spaceships suddenly disappear. But is the idea really so implausible? Not according to new findings by scientists who say they have come up with a way to create cloaking device. Electronic engineers at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia are researching a device they say could make objects "nearly invisible to an observer." The contrivance works by preventing light from bouncing off the surface of an object, causing the object to appear so small it all but disappears. Read more of the story: Invisibility Shields Planned by Engineers Hook me up with one of those!!! [when they get into production lol]] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Engineer101 Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 i got an idea. lets build a portable cloaking device on the planet then. (another retard diea by Bush) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now