This headline is wrong. This has nothing to do with thermal cameras. It's "cloaking" by making it appear to have the same bulk thermal properties as it's surroundings.
schiffern 20 hours ago [-]
Yes. Unfortunately many people are reading this thinking it's a FLIR invisibility cloak.
Notably it only works after the heat flow settles back down to equilibrium. If you're moving, it doesn't work.
simonh 9 hours ago [-]
There are loads of videos of Ukrainian FPV drones with thermal cameras hunting Russians trying to hide using something like space blankets. The blankets work up to a point, if the target were completely covered they would be hard to spot, but if parts of the soldier are not covered or are revealed during movement, it doesn't work out well for the target.
The videos remind me of the scene in Dune where Paul is hiding from the hunter-seeker that tracks based on movement.
natpalmer1776 19 hours ago [-]
Which seems like it would be good for fixed installations that need to remain undetected, no?
schiffern 18 hours ago [-]
The other caveat is that it only works if you're embedded inside a solid object. ;)
If you're in free space, the surface can't shine its IR differently in different directions, so under FLIR it will just look like the average ambient temperature. This is no better than existing (cheap and light) space blanket camo systems.
petsfed 4 hours ago [-]
The main problem with space blankets is that they eventually heat up. So they only work for a little while, and then have to re-equilibrate back to ambient, then you put them back on, then take off to re-equilibrate...
So this new tech appears to overcome that shortcoming, for static objects.
m4rtink 6 hours ago [-]
Well, could be still useful for hiding things in bulk materials ?
From scientific uses (sensors, cables or supports not disrupting experiments) to smuggling/hiding listening devices/trackers or boobytraps in bulk shipments, etc.
giantg2 9 hours ago [-]
More likely craft looking to reduce heat seeking missles or detection. Think better heat diffusion on helicopter or tank exhaust. Fixed installations would use thermal nets or space blankets.
inSumErgoCogito 12 hours ago [-]
So a "heatpump cooling", store concentrated heat and inject it into the ground would work much better?
BugsJustFindMe 3 hours ago [-]
> It's "cloaking" by making it appear to have the same bulk thermal properties as it's surroundings.
I'm not sure what you think the difference is?
AuthAuth 21 hours ago [-]
This is gonna be going straight to Ukraine
MrDrMcCoy 20 hours ago [-]
I certainly hope so!
sebstefan 19 hours ago [-]
> Although the current cloak represents a major advance, the researchers want to develop more sophisticated versions capable of performing additional functions. One particularly important goal is to conceal objects that produce heat themselves
I read the entire thing thinking it could cloak a soldier
17 hours ago [-]
scotty79 17 hours ago [-]
It could cloak a well insulated soldier from being a dark spot on the background.
nickandbro 15 hours ago [-]
I believe the Russians tried something similar in Ukraine with cloaking themselves to fool infrared drones.
qlte 15 hours ago [-]
Using 50 cent Mylar blankets which ... did not work like they hoped from the videos I've seen.
fwip 4 hours ago [-]
I mean, you're not gonna see the videos in which they did work.
bitwize 13 hours ago [-]
We have AIs hacking people's computers and brains, and now we have the Major's thermo-optic camouflage. They were right to keep the newest Ghost in the Shell set in 2029-2030. Seems like it's right on time.
tescreal 20 hours ago [-]
Next cyberpunk wizpop toy: thermoptic cameoflage.
The future is turning out to be fascinating as concerning.
nxobject 20 hours ago [-]
A Faraday for heat, eh?
dalmo3 19 hours ago [-]
I've always wanted to hide apples inside pears.
jagged-chisel 21 hours ago [-]
Does this work for things that emit heat?
thenthenthen 20 hours ago [-]
The article mentions thats the next step
SeanAnderson 21 hours ago [-]
Doesn't everything emit heat? :)
chorsestudios 17 hours ago [-]
no, the vacuum of space does not emit heat
antonvs 12 hours ago [-]
Interstellar space behaves as an almost perfect blackbody radiator, at a temperature of 2.725 Kelvin, due to the cosmic microwave background. As such, it does "emit heat", albeit an extremely small, but measurable amount.
20 hours ago [-]
glitchc 21 hours ago [-]
Let me answer your question with a question: Does the infrared camera detect emitted heat?
jagged-chisel 18 hours ago [-]
Generally? Yes.
In this case? No idea.
antonvs 12 hours ago [-]
Not clear where your question is coming from, but it detects heat that's emitted as infrared radiation.
computemachines 15 hours ago [-]
Maybe this could be used to hide a cold spot from a wafer bake pin.
graboy 21 hours ago [-]
Wow, a blanket!
thenthenthen 20 hours ago [-]
More like an iron maiden
scotty79 17 hours ago [-]
When you cover yourself with the blanket, others see the blanket. When you cover yourself with this, others see background.
vivzkestrel 17 hours ago [-]
- future soldier 2 loading....
bamboozled 20 hours ago [-]
Bad luck skynet
keyle 20 hours ago [-]
And that Predator monster!
SV_BubbleTime 22 hours ago [-]
[flagged]
jdlshore 22 hours ago [-]
Is dismissing people’s work so rudely how you make yourself feel superior?
thin_carapace 22 hours ago [-]
that guy taught me something new about glass in a snarky fashion , while you delivered pure snark. no comment to add, merely an observation
tarpitt 22 hours ago [-]
you can't make a drone entirely out of glass
onion2k 22 hours ago [-]
Can you fly a drone that's covered with a cloak?
mrandish 21 hours ago [-]
Probably not very well if the drone is the typical (quad)copter type since the shield will likely obstruct the airflow from the propellers reducing lift. The added weight of the shield is also likely to be a problem in small drones as most are already weight constrained. Although in small electric copters like those used in Ukraine, I'm not sure how often thermal imaging is used as a primary detection vector (due to size, distance and daytime thermal delta from below).
Thermal is definitely a primary vector in detecting larger drones like the Reaper due to large combustion or jet engines, but in that case the challenge isn't cloaking the drone, it's cloaking the heat of the vented exhaust that's likely leaving a thermal 'contrail' across the sky.
Rendered at 20:10:48 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) with Vercel.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-73167-0
FYI Ukraine already has FLIR invisibility cloaks (fancy camo space blankets): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfdF3iIwoX4
This is thermal cloak, explained here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM2RJi4mRZ0&t=52s
Notably it only works after the heat flow settles back down to equilibrium. If you're moving, it doesn't work.
The videos remind me of the scene in Dune where Paul is hiding from the hunter-seeker that tracks based on movement.
If you're in free space, the surface can't shine its IR differently in different directions, so under FLIR it will just look like the average ambient temperature. This is no better than existing (cheap and light) space blanket camo systems.
So this new tech appears to overcome that shortcoming, for static objects.
From scientific uses (sensors, cables or supports not disrupting experiments) to smuggling/hiding listening devices/trackers or boobytraps in bulk shipments, etc.
I'm not sure what you think the difference is?
I read the entire thing thinking it could cloak a soldier
The future is turning out to be fascinating as concerning.
In this case? No idea.
Thermal is definitely a primary vector in detecting larger drones like the Reaper due to large combustion or jet engines, but in that case the challenge isn't cloaking the drone, it's cloaking the heat of the vented exhaust that's likely leaving a thermal 'contrail' across the sky.