there is a promising new development involving invisibility using an exotic new material called "metamaterial", which may one day render an object truly invisible. ironically, the creation of metamaterials was once thought to be impossible because they violated the laws of optics. but in 2006 researchers at duke university in durham, north carolina, and imperial college in london successfully defied conventional wisdom and used metamaterials to make an object invisible to microwave radiation. although there are still many hurdles to overcome, for the first time in history we now have a blueprint to render ordinary objects invisible. (the pentagons defense advanced research projects agency [DARPA] funded this research.)