Texas team creates invisibility cloak

ABC News : Researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas have succeeded in creating a working cloaking device; they published the details this week in the journal Nanotechnology. For their device Ali Aliev and colleagues made a porous sponge out of sheets of carbon nanotubes, which are known for their exceptional ability to conduct heat and transfer it to surrounding areas. When a steep temperature gradient is imposed on the sponge, the refractive index of the surrounding air also acquires a steep gradient. Light rays are bent away from an object, just as in a desert mirage, and make the object seem invisible. The researchers have posted a video of their device in action in the lab.