yesterday at 9:54 PM
paper article is based on
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-73167-0
yesterday at 11:14 PM
This headline is wrong. This has nothing to do with thermal cameras. It's "cloaking" by making it appear to have the same bulk thermal properties as it's surroundings.
today at 12:39 AM
Yes. Unfortunately many people are reading this thinking it's a FLIR invisibility cloak.
FYI Ukraine already has FLIR invisibility cloaks (fancy camo space blankets): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfdF3iIwoX4
This is thermal cloak, explained here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM2RJi4mRZ0&t=52s
Notably it only works after the heat flow settles back down to equilibrium. If you're moving, it doesn't work.
today at 12:57 AM
Which seems like it would be good for fixed installations that need to remain undetected, no?
today at 2:25 AM
The other caveat is that it only works if you're embedded inside a solid object. ;)
If you're in free space, the surface can't shine its IR differently in different directions, so under FLIR it will just look like the average ambient temperature. This is no better than existing (cheap and light) space blanket camo systems.
today at 7:42 AM
So a "heatpump cooling", store concentrated heat and inject it into the ground would work much better?
yesterday at 10:55 PM
This is gonna be going straight to Ukraine
today at 12:37 AM
I certainly hope so!
today at 1:38 AM
> Although the current cloak represents a major advance, the researchers want to develop more sophisticated versions capable of performing additional functions. One particularly important goal is to conceal objects that produce heat themselves
I read the entire thing thinking it could cloak a soldier
today at 3:19 AM
today at 3:36 AM
It could cloak a well insulated soldier from being a dark spot on the background.
today at 4:46 AM
I believe the Russians tried something similar in Ukraine with cloaking themselves to fool infrared drones.
today at 4:55 AM
Using 50 cent Mylar blankets which ... did not work like they hoped from the videos I've seen.
today at 7:14 AM
We have AIs hacking people's computers and brains, and now we have the Major's thermo-optic camouflage. They were right to keep the newest Ghost in the Shell set in 2029-2030. Seems like it's right on time.
today at 12:20 AM
Next cyberpunk wizpop toy: thermoptic cameoflage.
The future is turning out to be fascinating as concerning.
today at 5:22 AM
Maybe this could be used to hide a cold spot from a wafer bake pin.
today at 12:27 AM
A Faraday for heat, eh?
today at 1:24 AM
I've always wanted to hide apples inside pears.
yesterday at 10:52 PM
Does this work for things that emit heat?
today at 12:33 AM
The article mentions thats the next step
yesterday at 11:26 PM
Doesn't everything emit heat? :)
today at 3:37 AM
no, the vacuum of space does not emit heat
today at 7:58 AM
Interstellar space behaves as an almost perfect blackbody radiator, at a temperature of 2.725 Kelvin, due to the cosmic microwave background. As such, it does "emit heat", albeit an extremely small, but measurable amount.
yesterday at 11:46 PM
yesterday at 10:58 PM
Let me answer your question with a question: Does the infrared camera detect emitted heat?
today at 7:59 AM
Not clear where your question is coming from, but it detects heat that's emitted as infrared radiation.
today at 2:17 AM
Generally? Yes.
In this case? No idea.
today at 3:20 AM
- future soldier 2 loading....
yesterday at 11:35 PM
Wow, a blanket!
today at 12:32 AM
More like an iron maiden
today at 3:38 AM
When you cover yourself with the blanket, others see the blanket. When you cover yourself with this, others see background.
today at 12:10 AM
Bad luck skynet
today at 12:24 AM
And that Predator monster!
yesterday at 9:54 PM
[flagged]
yesterday at 10:16 PM
Is dismissing people’s work so rudely how you make yourself feel superior?
yesterday at 10:22 PM
that guy taught me something new about glass in a snarky fashion , while you delivered pure snark. no comment to add, merely an observation
yesterday at 10:14 PM
you can't make a drone entirely out of glass
yesterday at 10:26 PM
Can you fly a drone that's covered with a cloak?
yesterday at 11:11 PM
Probably not very well if the drone is the typical (quad)copter type since the shield will likely obstruct the airflow from the propellers reducing lift. The added weight of the shield is also likely to be a problem in small drones as most are already weight constrained. Although in small electric copters like those used in Ukraine, I'm not sure how often thermal imaging is used as a primary detection vector (due to size, distance and daytime thermal delta from below).
Thermal is definitely a primary vector in detecting larger drones like the Reaper due to large combustion or jet engines, but in that case the challenge isn't cloaking the drone, it's cloaking the heat of the vented exhaust that's likely leaving a thermal 'contrail' across the sky.