Remember "Alice in wonderland"? You know that it was while she was following the rabbit Alice got lost in wonderland. The rabbit embodies the element of curiosity and the pursuit of the unknown. It is that thing that makes you take a trip to a place you do not know, without knowing what awaits you where you are going.
Some say that the white rabbit is the voice of God talking to Abraham telling him to leave his father and mother and go to a land that he would be shown. He didn't know where he was going and he didn't know if it was a trap. He trusted enough and was curious enough to venture into the unknown.
When Alice follows the rabbit into the hole, she leaves behind a world of predictability and mundane activities and ventures into a world of possibilities. The rabbit constantly checking his watch and hurrying down the hole tells you that the opportunity to launch into such a vista is limited and every person should learn to seize the opportunity to embrace curiosity.
Could that be the reason Kari Byron, Tory Belleci, and Grant Imahara decided to star this series that was full of surreal adventures and a lot of experimentation? Could it be the reason why they wanted to try and replicate super heroes... and that is just the first episode.
In the second episode, they decided that they were going to try and replicate some crazy jail breaks. That is for another article.
In part one of this article, we looked at the desperate attempt to see how possible it was to replicate the super power of instantaneous mind control. It only ended up in a mere muscle control.
Anyways, these guys also investigated the superpower of invisibility. They wanted to know how possible it was to make a person invisible. I am sure you have heard of invisibility cloaks. Even the new Spiderman, Myles Morales has the ability to become invisible... No. I am not yielding to the temptation to start listing all the superheroes that utilize the power of invisibility.
WHAT DO YOU SEE?
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If there is anything the magicians and the masters of illusion has taught us, it is that nothing is ever as it seems. Meaning that sometimes even our eyes deceive us. But no illusion has successfully made it possible for a human to become invisible.
In the series, they formed a contraption that was only able to make a certain part of the fingers invisible. The fingers had to be placed in a specific spot between a set of lenses that had to be placed with extreme precision at calculated distances.
It basically had no utility and was expensive to setup. It was a catastrophic failure. But there are some lessons to learn. First, when it comes to visibility, it is anything that reflects light in the visible spectrum that can be seen. Meaning that for something to be invisible, it needs to only reflect light that is beyond the visible spectrum.
That is a lot and as at today, it is not possible. But nevertheless, let's explore some hypothetical possibilities.
Optical camouflage
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Ever heard of the cloak of invisibility? Remember Harry Porter inherited a cloak of invisibility. The basic Idea behind it is this. The cloak is made of material that is able to manipulate light in such a way that whatever is under the cloak becomes invisible.
The basic principle is to be able to bend light waves such that they pass around a person making them appear invisible to an observer and there are various ways to get this done.
Metamaterials
Some materials manufactured with the intent of refracting light in a certain way can prove to be valuable in making an object or person invisible. Usually, these materials are used for their ability to manipulate light and other electromagnetic waves.
Active camouflage
I saw an episode of Sherlock Holmes where he covered himself in paint that was similar to the paint with which the wall in the room was painted. It made him invisible, at least you couldn't tell that he was in the room, even if you were looking directly at him.
This is using illusion as a means of invisibility. It is basically an improved version of what a chameleon does. Wait... it is actually the very same thing the chameleon does. It adjust its colors to fit the background making it appear invisible.
Holographic projection:
This is kinda the same as the optical camouflage. Only that with a holographic projection, you are projecting a background unto a person from all angles to make the person disappear, or be invisible/transparent to the naked eye.
Applications
Now, here comes the big question. What exactly is the utility of being invisible? For some people( in the movies), it is being able to walk around without clothing. But there are a bunch of ways that being invisible could be really useful.
Security and Surveillance
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If there is one thing that the military and security agencies have always cherished, it is information. Soldiers have died because of it. Wars have begun because of it. Wars have also ended because of it. Information can massively change the tide of war for which ever side has an abundance of it.
Information is so important that there are intelligence agencies established for the sole purpose of gathering information. With invisibility, intelligence gathering can take a whole new form. Spy missions and surveillance can be done effectively without rousing suspicion and minimal risk to the agents involved.
With invisibility, it would be a piece of cake to plant surveillance devices, bugs, radios, cameras, etc. It could literally be the deciding factor in the war between Ukraine and Russia, if the tech existed.
Think about the application it could have in stealth wars. Being able to put an invisible plane behind enemy lines, or an invisible tank, without being noticed or arousing any suspicion. Of course, it would prove a great challenge with radars and sonic sensors today. But still, thinking about it, it looks cool.
Health and Medicine.
If it is possible to make a human invisible, then it is possible to altar that tech to make only parts of the body visible. Imagine being able to look directly into a person's abdomen and see a ruptured spleen, instead of waiting for an ultrasound. Imagine being able to visually appreciate a Pancoast tumor on the lungs of a patient without the help of a CT. All you need to do is apply a certain tech, select what body parts you want to be invisible and voila... you've got visual.
The applications are endless. And with modifications and improvements, it may even be able to access internal organs and perform procedures with ease.
Personal Safety
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A lady is walking through an alley on her way home and suddenly, she hears footsteps. Someone is following her. She knows that a lot of ladies have been raped on that same alley and if she doesn't act, this person might do the same to her.
Luckily for her, she just purchased the invisibility cloak 5000 which she is wearing under her jumper. She decides to remove her jumper and activate the invisibility cloak. She watches as the person following her becomes confused, trashes around the alley looking for her and somehow is convinced that he has lost his mind. He decides to walk away and the lady is able to go home, safe from whatever the stalker planned for her.
It is clear that being invisible has its advantages. It also has its disadvantage. Like any other powerful tool that falls into the wrong hands, it can be used for great evil.
But, as at the time of writing this, Invisibility is still the stuff of science fiction and movies. Science would get there, and I sure as hell would like to be around when it happens.