Increasingly science fiction is losing its fiction. I think we already have devices better than Star Trek communicators (on Star Trek they didn't have cool games and ring tones, now did they!). Now it seems scientists have developed a "cloak of invisibility," albeit an imperfect one. Just 5 months after figuring out the theory that would make such a device possible, a team of Romulan British and American scientists have invented a device that can hide an object from detection using some kinds of light. And they believe the technology can be perfected to make objects invisible to visible light. From Salon.com:

A team of American and British researchers has made a Cloak of Invisibility. Well, OK, it's not perfect. Yet. But it's a start, and it did a pretty good job of hiding a copper cylinder.

In this experiment the scientists used microwaves to try and detect the cylinder. Like light and radar waves, microwaves bounce off objects making them visible and creating a shadow, though it has to be detected with instruments.

If you can hide something from microwaves, you can hide it from radar -- a possibility that will fascinate the military...

The new work points the way for an improved version that could hide people and objects from visible light...

The first working cloak was in only two dimensions and did cast a small shadow, Smith acknowledged. The next step is to go for three dimensions and to eliminate any shadow.

Viewers can see things because objects scatter the light that strikes them, reflecting some of it back to the eye.

"The cloak reduces both an object's reflection and its shadow, either of which would enable its detection," said Smith.

In effect the device, made of metamaterials -- engineered mixtures of metal and circuit board materials, which could include ceramic, Teflon or fiber composite materials -- channels the microwaves around the object being hidden.

When water flows around a rock, Smith explained, the water recombines after it passes the rock and people looking at the water downstream would never know it had passed a rock...

Looking at a cloaked item, Smith explained: "One would see whatever is behind the cloak. That is, the cloak is, ideally, transparent. Since we do not have a perfect cloak at this point, there is some reflection and some shadow, meaning that the background would still be visible just darkened somewhat.

I bet Dick Cheney is salivating over this one!