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 1 days 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 17 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 1 days ago [-]
Which seems like it would be good for fixed installations that need to remain undetected, no?
schiffern 1 days 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 12 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 15 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 18 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 21 hours ago [-]
So a "heatpump cooling", store concentrated heat and inject it into the ground would work much better?
BugsJustFindMe 12 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 1 days ago [-]
This is gonna be going straight to Ukraine
MrDrMcCoy 1 days ago [-]
I certainly hope so!
sebstefan 1 days 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
1 days ago [-]
scotty79 1 days ago [-]
It could cloak a well insulated soldier from being a dark spot on the background.
nickandbro 1 days ago [-]
I believe the Russians tried something similar in Ukraine with cloaking themselves to fool infrared drones.
qlte 24 hours ago [-]
Using 50 cent Mylar blankets which ... did not work like they hoped from the videos I've seen.
fwip 13 hours ago [-]
I mean, you're not gonna see the videos in which they did work.
bitwize 22 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 1 days ago [-]
Next cyberpunk wizpop toy: thermoptic cameoflage.
The future is turning out to be fascinating as concerning.
nxobject 1 days ago [-]
A Faraday for heat, eh?
dalmo3 1 days ago [-]
I've always wanted to hide apples inside pears.
jagged-chisel 1 days ago [-]
Does this work for things that emit heat?
thenthenthen 1 days ago [-]
The article mentions thats the next step
SeanAnderson 1 days ago [-]
Doesn't everything emit heat? :)
chorsestudios 1 days ago [-]
no, the vacuum of space does not emit heat
antonvs 21 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.
1 days ago [-]
glitchc 1 days ago [-]
Let me answer your question with a question: Does the infrared camera detect emitted heat?
jagged-chisel 1 days ago [-]
Generally? Yes.
In this case? No idea.
antonvs 21 hours ago [-]
Not clear where your question is coming from, but it detects heat that's emitted as infrared radiation.
computemachines 23 hours ago [-]
Maybe this could be used to hide a cold spot from a wafer bake pin.
graboy 1 days ago [-]
Wow, a blanket!
thenthenthen 1 days ago [-]
More like an iron maiden
scotty79 1 days ago [-]
When you cover yourself with the blanket, others see the blanket. When you cover yourself with this, others see background.
vivzkestrel 1 days ago [-]
- future soldier 2 loading....
bamboozled 1 days ago [-]
Bad luck skynet
keyle 1 days ago [-]
And that Predator monster!
SV_BubbleTime 1 days ago [-]
[flagged]
jdlshore 1 days ago [-]
Is dismissing people’s work so rudely how you make yourself feel superior?
thin_carapace 1 days 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 1 days ago [-]
you can't make a drone entirely out of glass
onion2k 1 days ago [-]
Can you fly a drone that's covered with a cloak?
mrandish 1 days 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.
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.