Hasta La Ideas

A group of MIT scientists have created a new material that can be both a mirror and a window, and no it’s not a one-way mirror.

This new material can filter light depending on the direction of the light beams. In the image above light that hits from one angle goes straight through (white beam) but light that hits the material at different angle is reflected back (red beam). For designers it might make for interesting new tricks for walls or new forms of windows.

To filter light one must alter either it’s frequency or polarization. In terms of frequency, stained glass windows are a good example, where the glass lets specific wavelengths pass through.

Polarized glasses, like the 3D glasses you wear at the movies, are able to let light through that oscillates in a specific way. But the idea of filtering light based on the direction it comes from has always been tough.

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