The Invisible Cloak

Scientists are busy developing the world's first light-bending meta-material (an artificially engineered material), a concept that has previously been known only to the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter fans. While currently non-functional for visible light, the ray-bending theory has been tested with other wave lengths and the results are positive.

a close-up of a metamaterial

When light touches a surface, the normal reaction is to reflect outward. This reflected light is what your brain processes as a variety of colors as it enters the eye. That is the normal reaction. However, when light strikes a meta-material, a completely different process takes place. Instead of bouncing from the meta-material and entering into your eye, the light is bent around the object and onto it's opposite side, creating the illusion that it's not there at all.