So I ran into this brief article on the potential future of invisibility: How do you make things invisible?

“Metamaterial” is apparently the future of stealth: not just invisibility, but undetectability. Now, I was curious for a more in-depth look at the stuff, so I of course consulted Wikipedia. I was subsequently reminded that my degree was a BA, not a BSc. As it turns out (and it’s not really a surprise), metamaterials are pretty complicated.

What I took away from it though, was that a Harry Potter-esque invisibility cloak was unlikely. This caused the fangirl portion of my brain so lose most of its interest, although a healthy dose of academic curiosity remains. So while I failed to achieve a comprehensive translation of the entirety of the article, I learned that metamaterials actually have potential uses in many areas (including various sensors and communications). Despite my lack of a thorough understanding, I am still inspired. I love it when I can walk away from even a short article going, “That is awesome.”

So here’s to science. Keep being awesome. (And keep making awesome things.)