GET BENT.....well its not coke and a 20"......

the above line is from Countramblings post on "Coke and a 20 inch Dong"

Ok I am ageek cuz I just love stuff like this it gets me in a wild mood
we foster some smart kids here in the Willamette Valley

OSU develops material that bends light

By KYLE ODEGARDGazette-Times reporter

Oregon State University scientists have helped develop a new type of composite material that can bend light the “wrong way,” and that could have a wide range of optical and electronic applications, according to the university. The material is made up of reflective and transparent layers, but right now, samples aren’t big enough to be seen by the human eye. “It’s pretty small, about a quarter of the size of a human hair,” said Viktor Podolskiy, an OSU assistant professor of physics. In theory, large amounts of the technology could make objects appear invisible by bending light around them.“Star Trek” fans shouldn’t begin plans for a Romulan cloaking device just yet, however. “I am pretty pessimistic about this, because it is cloaking for one wavelength,” Podolskiy said. The human eye or radar with multiple frequencies would notice objects, though there might be significant distortion, he said. Regardless, until recently, “negative index” material was science fiction and theory.Scientists started talking about the possibility in the late 1960s. “Up to the year 2000, there was no research,” Podolskiy said. “We had an explosion in that particular area. There are probably a couple hundred papers published every year on the subject.” Researchers at OSU, Princeton University and Alcatel-Lucent who developed the material believe it could be produced commercially, since it is created using existing tools available to the semiconductor industry. This material also is more robust and thicker than others that reflect light the wrong way, and as incredible as it seems, the OSU group’s sample is larger than others, Podolskiy said. “This is a big step forward,” he added. The material might be used to shrink infrared optical systems and create a super lens to see objects the size of a nanometer — about one-100,000th of a human hair’s diameter. It could also improve electronic manufacturing, data storage and medical systems, according to the university. Podolskiy said he thinks commercial applications of the material could be just a few years away.

Kyle Odegard covers Oregon State University. He can be contacted at kyle.odegard@lee.net or 758-9523.