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The Quest for Ultimate Electromagnetics using Spatial Transformations (QUEST)
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QUEST Investigator Ulf Leonhardt demonstrates Invisibility at the Royal Society Summer Exhibition
The display at the 2011 Royal Society Summer Exhibition.
“Geometry and Light: the science of invisibility” was a featured display at the 2011 Summer Exhibition at the Royal Society. Here, Prof Ulf Leonhardt and Dr Tom Philbin used simple experiments to demonstrate the science behind invisibility, helping visitors understand the basic concept of refraction of light and how that enables illusions, mirages and invisibility. Demonstrations included how small balls made of sodium polyacrylate literally vanished as they were immersed in water.
A group of visitors at the display.
The Royal Society’s Summer Exhibition is an annual showcase event featuring cutting-edge research from around the United Kingdom. It is a family-friendly event open to the general public, offering them a “unique opportunity to interact with scientists and ask them questions about their work.” The BBC News website featured the QUEST invisibility display prominently in its article on the summer exhibition, including a video of the “vanishing balls” experiment.