Underwater Cloaking

Researchers have suggested that it may be possible to cloak submerged objects as they move through a fluid using layers of mesh and micro-pumps. By redirecting the fluid so that it enters and leaves the mesh surrounding the object in the same speed and direction that it entered, it is theoretically possible to have zero drag and no wake. So far researchers have only simulated this set-up computationally using a sphere with 10 layers of mesh. It’s also unfortunately limited in size and speed: a vehicle 1 cm across could only remain wake-free at speeds below 1 cm/s. (Photo credit: Michael J Rinaldi) #