Scientists making progress with techniques that allow for seeing through opaque materials

It has been a desire, if not a dream for many throughout human history, to create a device that allows for seeing through walls (ala Superman), inside the human body or through a shield so that the enemy can be seen without risk. Surprisingly, over the past several years, scientists have begun to find ways to do such things—this week author/journalist Zeeya Merali offers a News Feature in the journal Nature outlining research in this area and where she feels it might be heading.

As Meralis notes, it was just eight years ago that a pair of researchers (Allard Mosk and Ivo Vellekoop) working at the University of Twente in Enschede, the Netherlands found a way to shine a light through an opaque material, igniting a rush by others to investigate their discovery further. Their work, and the work done by others after them is all based on unscrambling light that has been scattered after running through a material.