DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - Could active camo actually be in use now?

**Kissntell** · 04-05-2008, 01:52 AM

I'm curious, if the material simply absorbs the light, wouldn't that mean the object just appeard as an unnatural flat black? It could just be my misunderstand the physics of light though. *shrugs*

No, you don't misunderstand the physics of light at all. Just the physics of the device.

It isn't a black hole. It doesn't reach out and "grab" other photons to absorb. It only absorbs that which would be reflected from it, and this reflected light is what makes an object "seen".

If you absorb the light that would be reflected you create more of a blur (which is what is seen here). It doesn't make it black, it makes it blurry. This is because it isn't absorbing all light, and what we end up seeing is akin to a scattered array of photons. The technology will not allow for the absorption of all light simultaneously. To absorb the various energies you must have a material that will actually affect a very narrow range of light frequencies.

The real difficulty is in how you manage to "nest" the absorbing material so that you may better take advantage of the properties of your "stealthy" materials beyond just a narrow band of the light spectrum. This is one of the the "top secret" aspects of the stealth paint. Using the same technology on clothing is not really too far fetched.

04-05-2008, 01:52 AM	#9
Kissntell Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 576 Senior Member	I'm curious, if the material simply absorbs the light, wouldn't that mean the object just appeard as an unnatural flat black? It could just be my misunderstand the physics of light though. shrugs No, you don't misunderstand the physics of light at all. Just the physics of the device. It isn't a black hole. It doesn't reach out and "grab" other photons to absorb. It only absorbs that which would be reflected from it, and this reflected light is what makes an object "seen". If you absorb the light that would be reflected you create more of a blur (which is what is seen here). It doesn't make it black, it makes it blurry. This is because it isn't absorbing all light, and what we end up seeing is akin to a scattered array of photons. The technology will not allow for the absorption of all light simultaneously. To absorb the various energies you must have a material that will actually affect a very narrow range of light frequencies. The real difficulty is in how you manage to "nest" the absorbing material so that you may better take advantage of the properties of your "stealthy" materials beyond just a narrow band of the light spectrum. This is one of the the "top secret" aspects of the stealth paint. Using the same technology on clothing is not really too far fetched.
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