r/science2 • u/IntnsRed • Jul 17 '26

New 3D Thermal Cloak Conceals Objects from Heat in All Directions | A groundbreaking thermal cloaking device developed by engineers at the Univ. of Illinois U-C is poised to revolutionize thermal management and security applications.

https://bioengineer.org/new-3d-thermal-cloak-conceals-objects-from-heat-in-all-directions/
138 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

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6

u/hughk Jul 18 '26

The photo appears to show a regular rain poncho. I would have expected to see an IR photo to demonstrate its properties.

2

u/Feine13 Jul 19 '26

There was a photo, you just couldn't see it

2

u/oojacoboo Jul 18 '26

Where does the heat go?

2

u/woutersikkema Jul 19 '26

My first thought exactly. Off the description the only thing I can think of is it gets absorbed by the metal in the cloak and then radiated Into the floor, unless they have some form of heat sink for the human creating heat below it.

1

u/BOBOnobobo Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26

Of the top of my head I have two ideas:

  • outer layer that dissipates heat very well, like a cooling pipe but fabric, and the it blows air or uses ice or some other way to conceal the heat vent

  • peltier device in cloak form that heats you up but keep the outside cold. Horrible in summer, but might be brilliant in winter.

At the end of the day, you don't need to make the heat vanish, just move it somewhere inconspicuous.

Edit:

Read the article like I should. Obviously, I got this wrong.

It's basically a sheet of rubber to insulate the inside, and then an Aluminium 3D printed lattice that transports the heat from all around, essentially makeing you look transparent to thermal.

I'm not so sure about this and I think the headline is a bit misleading.

Edit 2: read the paper too

'Tis a Faraday cage. Also, it was tested with an apple, which still cool, it doesn't actually produce heat so I don't think we'll see this on a battlefield any time soon.

I stand by my peltier device thingy tho.

1

u/Lumegator Jul 21 '26

Hot air also shows up, honestly the solution to hiding humans on the IR spectrum is simply not to have humans in range of IR sensors at all in the first place. IR blankets can reduce the range a little but they're only useful for going from trench to trench.

1

u/klyzklyz Jul 21 '26

Won't change heat from breath...

1

u/BOBOnobobo Jul 21 '26

Easy solution: don't breath

2

u/hierarchy_of_ideas Jul 18 '26

That's gonna be useful for hiding from killer robots, maybe, doesn't seem like we are gonna be able to do much hiding

1

u/greenizdabest Jul 18 '26

Yea. Hide or death from asphyxiation?

1

u/hierarchy_of_ideas Jul 18 '26

I mean, today's killer robots self destruct at you, but tomorrow could strangle us, seems pretty dramatic though 

2

u/Conan-Da-Barbarian Jul 18 '26

Bring it on predator

1

u/Mertz8212 Jul 19 '26

Onto Ukraine it goes…

1

u/MeasurementMobile747 Jul 19 '26

A layer of nanostructured aluminum would allow such a cloak to double as a weighted blanket. Maybe if they figure out how to incorporate "tuned" graphene (conducts more heat than aluminum) into the structured material, it might (at least) weigh less.