Science is *thisclose* to giving us a real-life Invisibility Cloak

Turns out magic might actually more real than we think. Researchers at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and the Russian Academy of Sciences have created a new metamaterial (materials with properties that aren’t found in nature) that could be useful in developing certain optical devices as well as, get this, a real-life invisibility cloak, just like the one owned by our good friend Harry Potter.

Ever since the idea spilled out from author JK Rowling’s imagination and onto the page, readers have wondered what it would be like to own a device that easily and immediately makes you invisible. Using computer simulations, science was able to illustrate this possible reality.

DNA India explains:

That’s a whole lotta of science, so let’s try to break it down. While invisibility as we think of it will probably never be attainable, this new material would do a pretty good job of mimicking the illusion of invisibility using reflection. Through the refraction and manipulation of light, the material would allow the wearer to essentially “blend in” with what’s around them.

However it works, we know we want one. Until we can figure out how to accio one over, we’ll just have to wait for science to finish it for us.

(Image via Warner Bros)

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