A Submarine That Doesn't Make Waves - ScienceNOW

A Submarine That Doesn't Make Waves - ScienceNOW: The proposed cloak would be a mesh of wires or blades, mounted on the surface of the object moving through water. For their model, the researchers chose a sphere, one of the simplest shapes to simulate. The simulated mesh was layered in 10 concentric shells around the sphere, guiding 10 streams of water. The water nearest the sphere needs the most deflection, so these wires or blades would be thickest. The thinner blades on the outside, however, would hardly change the path of the water, giving it a gentle entrance and exit. Micropumps would control the speed of the water in each layer, ensuring that each stream moved near the same speed as its neighbors. This gradual change from the near stillness of the outer layer to the speed of the sphere in the inner layer would prevent the water from dragging on the sphere or itself.