‘Invisibility cloaks’ come closer to reality

September 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Physicists at UC (University of California) San Diego have successfully created speedy integrated circuits with particles called "excitons" that operate at commercially cold temperatures, bringing the possibility of a new type of extremely fast computer based on excitons closer to reality. Their discovery follows the team's demonstration last summer of an integrated circuit-an assembly of transistors that is the building block for all electronic devices-capable of working at 1.5 degrees Kelvin above absolute zero.

September 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have come closer to engineering drug-free cannabis plant after identifying genes that produce psychoactive substance in marijuana. University of Minnesota researchers have identified genes producing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive substance in marijuana, which could lead to new and better drugs for pain, nausea and other conditions.

September 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research, researchers are working to slow down light to the speed of a bicycle, along with other scientific aims. The speed of light, 300 million metres per second, was long thought an immutable constant and has defined our understanding of matter and energy but recent research in the area of optics and photonics is proving that we can manipulate light to some ingenious and hugely lucrative ends.

August 24th, 2009 US says resumption of Mideast peace talks closerWASHINGTON — The State Department says its Mideast peace envoy is getting closer to winning agreement by the Israelis and Palestinians to resume peace talks. Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters Monday that scheduled talks Wednesday in London between peace envoy George Mitchell and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not necessarily produce a breakthrough.

August 21st, 2009 LONDON - A University of St Andrews scientist has made fresh advancement in bringing Harry Potter's invisibility cloak closer to reality. Professor Ulf Leonhardt, who has won funding to develop a real version of the magical device, describes his work as the "ultimate optical illusion'.

August 16th, 2009 Obama confident health care overhaul coming soonWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says he's confident his drive to overhaul health care will succeed. The president writes in Sunday's New York Times about "health insurance reform" and says his attempt to overhaul the system is closer to reality "than we have ever been." Obama cites support from the American Nurses Association, the powerful American Medical Association and the AARP for big changes.

August 13th, 2009 LONDON - Invisible gateways, like the one in Harry Potter, are a step closer to reality, thanks to a new theory developed by scientists. With the help of a technique known as transformation optics, the research team from Hong Kong University and Fudan University in Shanghai has found a way to alter the pathway of light waves that could eventually allow them to develop portals that are invisible to the human eye, reports The Telegraph.

July 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research by scientists at the University of Liverpool has shown it is possible to develop an 'invisibility cloak' to protect buildings from earthquakes. Sebastien Guenneau, from the University's Department of Mathematics, developed the technology with Stefan Enoch and Mohamed Farhat from the Fresnel Institute (CNRS) in Marseilles.

June 27th, 2009 LONDON - Let alone hiding persons or objects from prying eyes, future invisibility cloaks may even conceal buildings from the devastating effects of earthquakes, if physicists in France and the UK are to be believed. Stefan Enoch of the Fresnel Institute in Marseille, France, is the researcher behind the "earthquake cloak" idea.

June 16th, 2009 LONDON - Magic carpets capable of hiding almost any object on earth may soon be a reality, with two separate research groups from the Berkeley-based University of California and New York-based Cornell University presenting interesting breakthroughs at the International Quantum Electronics Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, last week. "Carpet cloaks", which have sprung from the researchers' efforts, are being described as the first technology to succeed in hiding objects by deflecting light across a range of wavelengths.

June 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - U.S. scientists have confirmed that there exists a type of material that could one day provide dramatically faster, more efficient computer chips.

April 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Expressing serious concern over reports that the Taliban is inching closer towards Islamabad, the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, has said Pakistan could be taken over by insurgents. "We're certainly moving closer to the tipping point where Pakistan could be overtaken by extremists," The Nation quoted Admiral Mullen, as saying.

April 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Ever heard spiritual gurus saying that it's possible to turn your imagination into reality? Well, scientists have now said that there is a certain truth to the statement. In a new study, psychologists Christopher Davoli and Richard Abrams from Washington University have suggested that the imagination may be more effective than we think in helping us reach our goals.

March 14th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have created a metamaterial that could lead to the development of a cloaking device that makes a person invisible, among other applications. Developed by Naomi Halas and graduate student Nikolay Mirin from Rice University, US, the material collects light from any direction and emits it in a single direction, using very tiny, cup-shaped particles called nanocups.

January 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Cuttlefish and chameleons could teach Harry Potter a thing or two about becoming invisible, either as predator or as prey. Roger Hanlon, senior scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), who has been studying animal camouflage for 35 years, discerned three distinct 'invisibility patterns' comprising uniform, mottled and disruptive.