Researchers at Cornell have designed, built and demonstrated the first “cloak” that hides events in time. The process relies on similar methods of distorting electromagnetic fields as invisibility cloaks, but it exploits a time-space duality in electromagnetic theory: diffraction and dispersion of light in space are mathematically equivalent. Scientists have used this theory to create a “time-lens [that]can, for example, magnify or compress in time”.
The time cloak takes two of those lenses and arranges them so that one compresses a beam of light while the other decompresses it. That leaves the beam seemingly unchanged, but the diffraction and dispersion actually “cloak” small events in the beam’s timeline. Right now, the cloak can only last for 120 nanoseconds, and the theoretical max for the current design measures just microseconds. But the prospect of being able to exist outside of time, even for just a few microseconds, should be enough to make even the most jaded tech nerd giggle at the possibilities. [Tech Review via Hacker News]
Jackson
Friday, July 15, 2011 at 9:16 AMCan someone plese compress the presidency of Obama to about two seconds…this would save many years od suffering.
Roland
Friday, July 15, 2011 at 10:29 AMAdd Gillard/Brown into there too please.
bryan
Friday, July 15, 2011 at 1:48 PMDont politicize a tech thread you right wing morons….I’m surprised anti science crusaders even frequent Giz
John
Friday, July 15, 2011 at 7:39 PMMy sentiments exactly, Bryan.
Steve
Saturday, July 16, 2011 at 11:13 AMDo the world a favour. Compress yourself.
Distractobot
Friday, July 15, 2011 at 10:52 AMWhen people start talking time-space duality, the star trek theme tune goes through my head.
Mainly because I have no idea what’s going on…
Jon
Friday, July 15, 2011 at 11:11 AMNow that’s thinking outside the box!
EckyThump
Friday, July 15, 2011 at 11:49 AMI’m a compulsive SciFi book reader, and one of the concepts that come up is a zero tau, suspended animation cabinet where you step in and you cease to age any more because you are essentially frozen in time! You step in, and when you come out it seams like you just got in, when in-fact you could have been in there for years. The perfect suspended animation without freezing! In “Red Dwarf” Lister used one to go into the future! I really hope this thing works out, Space travel would be a lot easier. #]
Jamie Carl
Friday, July 15, 2011 at 12:45 PMI’m going to run down to my local Radioshack and pick up a few split time lenses and try this myself!
Sam.D.
Friday, July 15, 2011 at 2:16 PMToo late. I got the last one.
BTW I’m writing this fifteen minutes from now.
Michael Barnes
Friday, July 15, 2011 at 3:17 PMWait, can we stop light or time by 120 nanoseconds? If its REALLY time, Holy mother of f**king god…
Steve C.
Friday, July 15, 2011 at 11:50 PMSay can we now create the “Flux Capacitor”?
Then we can use it to go back in time. Maybe get our country out of debt? Or perhaps prevent 9/11? Just think of the possibilities!
Franz
Saturday, July 16, 2011 at 11:20 AMYay, they finally figured out what I knew all along: you have to achieve cosmic separation in order to conduct time travel.
Just wait till they figure out that there are 2 different types of time travel. Answer: Analog and Digital.
They will be all excited, while I look at my watch and yawn.