Invisibility Cloak Invented, Cosplayers Rejoice!

If you’ve been waiting for the final, authentic piece of Harry Potter garb for your Hogwarts uniform, that day may be closer than you think.

A Texas scientist has developed “several strands of what look like thread,” which could maybe possibly be the beginnings of a real-life invisibility cloak. Ali Aliev, a physicist at the University of Texas in Dallas said that the strands “really can hide objects… [they] can switch for a short moment and make it disappear.”

Alas, you probably won’t have one of the completed invisibility cloaks handed down to you by Dumbledore because it is a family heirloom, and there are some other key differences as well. Rather than being woven from unicorn hairs, the sadly non-magical strands of invisibility cloak function in a way similar to that of desert mirages. MSNBC explains:

The threadlike material is made of carbon nanotubes, Aliev said. He discovered that the material becomes so hot when heated up that it can bend light around an object, making it look as if it has disappeared. (The phenomenon is similar to the way desert heat can create a mirage.)

Although the technology is in its early stages for now, Aliev says that the invisibility cloak strands could eventually be used to hide large items such as military tanks and also confirms muggles in the United Kingdom are working on similar technologies to enable us all to sneak around away from the prying eyes of Professor Snape lest we end up in the dungeons for detention.