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WHAT ARE METAMATERIALS?

Metamaterials are a new class of surfaces which have been engineered on the nanoscale, as small as a billionth of a metre wide.

The materials used to construct them are arranged in certain patterns or shapes, designed to perform specific tasks.

Most are created on computers and 3D-printed as plastic blocks or slabs, although metals and other materials can also be used.

One such task is to bend electromagnetic radiation around an object.

The first examples only worked with long-wavelength radiation, such as microwaves, while others altered the path of near-infrared radiation.

Some can bend sound waves to focus them for medical purposes or to create speakers which direct sound to a specific spot.

Some scientists have claimed there is nothing stopping them from scaling their inventions up to hide objects from visible light.

So far, however, this has proved more of a challenge.

When light is shone upon an object it is either reflected or absorbed, dictating how it appears to a human eye.  

Using metamaterials, the interaction of particles with light can be changed so that the object appears invisible, or as something completely different.

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