AN AIRPLANE that re-quires no fuel and produces no emissions recently made its maiden flight above the Swiss country-side. The Solar Impulse, which runs on energy collected by the 12,000 solar cells built into its wings, glided for 87 minutes above western Switzerland at an altitude of 1,200 m with Markus Scherdel, a German test pilot, at the controls. The propeller plane is made of carbon fiber, has the same wing-span as an Airbus A340, and weighs as much as a midsize car. 38 Device Turns Objects Invisible in 3-D Scientists have created a device that can make objects invisible in three dimensions, bringing true "invisibility cloaks" one small step closer to reality, according to a report in the journal Science. Tol-ga Ergin, a scientist from the Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie, in Karlsruhe, Germany, led the research team, which crafted the "carpet cloak" from a photonic metamaterial that makes objects disappear from sight using light wavelengths close to those visible to humans.
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