Scientists have long sought to make objects completely invisible. The latest round of experiments revolved around invisibility cloaks. Now, scientists from the University of Singapore may have developed a better way to make stuff go poof: a beam of darkness that envelops objects and makes them invisible to the naked eye.

Invisibility cloaks are great but they only work with a small range of frequencies of light. At the wrong frequency, it's pretty much useless. While scientists are still looking to improve on that, true invisibility with a cloak isn't anywhere near reality yet.

But the folks at Singapore believe their method will work better. They use what they call a "beam of darkness" to affect resolution at a small level. An object is made out of focus using a lser with a special lens to de-focus the light coming from an object. With enough de-focusing, the object will completely disappear from view.

We're still wondering what sort of practical application can one apply to an invisible beam. Perhaps come up with the greatest prank of all time?

Via Extreme Tech