![]() ![]() Others are thinking big about invisibility using the same LED projection principle. They say that current technologies are almost up to the task, and estimate that it could cost under 500,000 euros to build a prototype. Italian computer scientists Franco Zambonelli and Marco Mamei have outlined the requirements for a fabric coated with miniaturised LEDs and cameras that, by projecting the appropriate background image in all directions, could confer genuine invisibility. ![]() These schemes seem to work by confusion, or what became known as “dazzle” or “motion camouflage”: they break up the outlines of the animals, so that potential predators can’t work out what it is they are seeing.īut Rogers and his colleagues are not the only ones chasing this goal. On the contrary, they are strikingly visible patterns – like the stark black and white stripes of a zebra. But some zoologists advising the military pointed out that many animal markings apparently used for camouflage don’t seek to make the creatures invisible. You might think that an animal seeking to hide itself would try to blend with its surroundings, as for example the Dead Leaf Moth does. That might seem obvious, but for the regular troops the mere mention of camouflage seemed to suggest something akin to a magic “hiding” charm: camouflage designed for the muddy, wooded battlegrounds of northern Europe in World War Two was sometimes used without question in the desert campaigns too.Īnother part of the problem was that in the early 20th Century scientists were only just beginning to understand how some natural camouflage works. One of the reasons why early camouflage specialists argued furiously about the best way to hide warships was that what might work under the steely grey skies of the North Atlantic might be useless in the azure Mediterranean. But in truth, the military’s long history with camouflage is chequered.Įver since the early days of camouflage – the word was coined during World War One, possibly from the Parisian slang term camoufler, meaning “to hide” – it has been clear that the problem with any static camouflage pattern is that it only works well against the right background. Octopus skin can in fact do more than match a background’s colour – it can even mimic its texture – but the new artificial version is an impressive start.Ī start, however, towards what end? Rogers’ research was supported by the US Office of Naval Research, which suggests the military sees potential in the work. The basic idea is that the creatures use light-sensitive molecules in the skin to register the light coming from the background against which they sit, and then use this information to alter the appearance of colour-changing cells. The result is similar, at a crude level, to the way that octopus skin works. Shine a light on the material, and the black dye will turn transparent and expose a reflective silvery material beneath. Cool it, and it becomes black again.Īt the corners of each cell the researchers added tiny light sensors that record how much light falls on the cell, and this signal is used to control an electric current that helps warm up the dye. The dye is black at room temperature, but when warmed to around 47C (117F) its chemical structure changes and it becomes transparent. The cells, each about a millimetre across, contain a colour-changing dye embedded in a polymer. To make the adaptive displays, the researchers began by imprinting a 16x16 grid of cells on a soft plastic. The new adaptive camouflage has been invented by materials scientist John Rogers of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his colleagues. But how much do we really understand about how and why animals use camouflage? And are military applications really going to be the optimal use of these adaptive materials? Right away reporters began speculating about its potential importance for disguising military vehicles or personnel. Now, we’ve seen how squid and octopuses can change their skin colour to blend into their surroundings, and we’ve copied that too.Ī new “ adaptive camouflage”, which can switch between light and dark to resemble its environment, was unveiled last month. In modern times, we’ve come up with new designs for aircraft with morphing wings that steal a trick from birds, and we’ve made re-usable adhesives by copying the microstructure of gecko’s feet. The Roman architect Vitruvius claimed that people invented houses by mimicking the nests of swallows. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, we humans have been doing our best to compliment other animals for centuries. ![]()
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