Transcript

Overview

A digitally drawn, colorful comic that uses the stylization of superhero comics to emphasize it’s points.

Cover

Metamaterials Bending Reality

Written by Pragalv Karki

Drawn by Jessica Bolden

Cover Description: A superhero in a skintight yellow suit with blue gloves and a blue cape flies off the page in a superman pose with one fist outstretched. He has dark curly hair and brown skin, and he is wearing wrap-around glasses with small red lenses.

Page 1

Panel 1: Aerial view of three students sitting at an outdoor table in a university courtyard as a fourth student walks up to join them.

Panel 2: Seth, the superhero from the cover now in a tan jacket over a blue t-shirt: “How’s it going, Joe?” Joe, a person wearing a large red hoodie. He has short blonde upswept hair and pale skin: “I’m great! How about you guys?”

Panel 3: “Good” “I’m doing alright!” “Same!”

Panel 4: Seth: “I didn’t see you at the physics colloquium yesterday.” Joe: Yeah, I was out of town. How’d it go?” Jessi, a person wearing a green hoodie. She has dark bobbed hair and brown skin: “Me and Aditi went together!”

Panel 4: Joe: “Oh, you went too Aditi? Aren’t you an art student? What does physics have to do with art?”

Page 2

Panel 1: Aditi, a person in a blue long sleeve shirt with long dark hair and brown skin: “I just wanted to keep Jessi company. But I did learn a lot about metamaterials!”

Panel 2: Joe: “What is a metamaterial?” Jessi looks at her phone, Jessi: “Metamaterials are synthetic composite materials made from ordinary materials. They are put together and configured in a way that allows unique manipulation of light or acoustic waves.”

Panel 3: Joe: “What do you mean?”

Panel 4: Jessi: “For example, this metamaterial has a negative index of refraction, which means it can bend light backwards.” Jessi holds her phone out to Joe showing him the metamaterial.

Panel 5: A close-up on Jessi’s phone, the metamaterial is a three dimensional rectangular grid, each surface has 3 small rectangular lines on it. Joe: Whoa! What else can metamaterials do?”

Panel 6: Seth: “There are metamaterials that can act as invisibility cloaks!”

Panel 6: Joe: “An invisibility clock? Like Harry Potter?”

Page 3

Panel 1: Seth: “Kinda, but so far optical cloaking only work in nanoscales.”

Panel 2: “There are larger invisibility cloaks for acoustic waves.” A tiered pyramid shaped metamaterial.

Panel 3: “And for microwaves as well!” 3-D spokes with strips connecting the pokes in concentric circles. The strips have the same rectangle shapes on them.

Panel 4: “Cloaking kinda looks like this.” “Acoustic sonar experiment.” Three subpanels show first an empty plane, then a red box sitting on the plane, then the box is covered with a terraced pyramid shaped material from panel 2. The terraced material partially obscures the box and makes it more translucent. Under the three subpanels is a row of three more subpanels. The first shows green and yellow lines across the whole panel. In the second there’s a disruption in the center making the lines more translucent and bending them. In the third, the disruption occurs only at the bottom of the panel and breaks up the lines.

Page 4

Panel 1: Seth: “I wonder when optical invisibility cloaks will work on a larger scale.”

Panel 2 and 3: Jessi: “Well, physicists are working on it right now! There are also origami-inspired metamaterials.”

Panel 4: “They change their shape based on external stimuli!” A cube made of stacks of smaller cubes, intricately interwoven appears suspended in space. Two hands clasp around the cube, squishing it into a diamond shape. When the hands are removed, the diamond shape is unchanged. Aditi: “Science inspired art! This was my favorite part of the talk.”

Panel 5: The four friends are still sitting around the table. Joe: “Of course, Aditi! Did you guys learn where all this stuff came from?” Aditi: “We did! I remember it clearly.”

Page 5

Panel 1: “Rodger M. Walser. 1999 – coined the term metamaterial. Extensively developed the early concepts of metamaterials.” A portrait of Walser, an older man in a suit.

Panel 2: “Jagadish Chandra Bose. 1989 – Performed early experiments on what we call metamaterials today.” Portrait of Bose. “Polarized electromagnetic waves using twisted structures.” A drawing shows a block of wood supporting an electromagnet facing a flimsy metal stand holding a differently-colored electromagnet. The “modern version” is shown below, a device that’s brightly colored and implied to be much smaller by the electromagnetic wave patterns that are visible on the device.

Page 6

Panel 1: “David R. Smith. 2000 – Invented metamaterial with negative refractive index. The index of refraction, n = square root of epsilon times mu, where epsilon is permittivity and mu is permeability. N < 0 creates bizarre consequences.” Five subpanels show examples.

Subpanel 1: A 3-D grid of metamaterial.

Subpanel 2: A 4-quadrent graph labeled “Normal Material n>0” A red line starts in quadrant II and runs diagonally through the origin into quadrant IV.

Subpanel 3: The same graph with the same red line, with an additional dotted blue line emanating from the origin and extending diagonally into quadrant III, mirroring the original red line. “Metamaterial n < 0.”

Subpanel 4 and 5: A glass of water with a straw in it viewed from the side. In the first panel at the point where the straw touches the surface of the water it appears misaligned, so the entry point is offset from where it is under the water. In the second panel the straw is even more noticeably misaligned, and the view from under the water is flipped so it’s on the other side of the glass.

Panel 2: “Sir John B. Pendry. Pioneer in the field of metamaterials with early theories and design.” Portrait of an older man with glasses. Subpanel 1: half of a sphere, sliced so the interior is visible to the reader. There is a smaller sphere inside, of half the diameter of the exterior sphere. Lines of force enter the exterior sphere at a small point on the left, expand around the interior sphere in the middle, and converge as they exit the exterior sphere on the right. Subpanel 2: Rows of metamaterial planes in concentric circles.

Page 7

“Victor Veselago” Portrait of an older, balding man. “1968 — Predicted negative refractive index creates unusual bending of light.”

“n > 0” A pencil is halfway in a tank of water and appears slightly curved where it enters the water

“n < 0” A pencil is halfway in a tank of water, and appears to be bent at a sharp 90 degree angle where it enters.

“Charged objects traveling faster than the speed of light in a medium creates Cherenkov radiation in the direction of travel.”

N > 0 An object travels forward towards a V shaped arrow pointing in the same direction. Two arrows point outwards from the side of the V. There are circular lines around the object, when they hit the sides of the V they bounce towards the other side and form deformed concentric circles.

“In a medium with a negative refractive index, the direction of Cherenkov radiation is reversed.”

N < 0 The same object travels forward. In this diagram, the point of the V touches the object and the legs extend out in front of it. The arrows on the legs now point backwards/outwards, and the concentric circles within the V are in front of the object.

Page 8

Panel 1: Joe: “that’s so cool! What other applications are there?”

Jessi: “Well, there’s…”

Panel 3: As Jessi talks, Aditi stares into the distance and imagines herself and her friends as superheroes.

Page 9

A full page spread, of Aditi’s imagination. Lady Unseen, the purple hero wears a purple leotard and a red cape. Superlenser, the yellow hero wears a spandex suit and a blue cape with a yellow visor. Shapshifter, the blue hero has ankle length blonde hair and scaley belt skirt and shoulder pads. And Acoustiman, has a blonde mohawk, wears a tight grey t shirt and green pants and has a shield on his back.

Page 10

Panel 1: A reporter stands in front of several skyscrapers including a bank, she’s holding a microphone and talking to a camera. “Three armed men have just stormed the main street bank! We have received reports that there are hostages inside! But not all hope is lost! The Metaheroes have arrived on the scene!”

Panel 2: “There’s superlenser using his metamaterial to melt the wall to sneak inside!”

Page 11

Panel 1: Three men stand in a vault carrying bales of money and packing duffle bags.

Panel 2: Two hostages huddle on the floor and another bangs at the door of the room they’re locked inside.

Panel 3: One of the robbers cocks his head as superlenser starts melting a circle in the wall behind him.

Panel 4: Superlenser finishes creating the hole and addresses the robbers, “stop right there, evil-doers!”

Panel 5: Superlenser steps into the room with the hole behind him and poses with his hands on his hips, “with my powers to control light rays, superlenser is here to put an end to this robbery!”

Page 12

Panel 1: The robber whips out his gun and shoots directly at superlenser’s chest. “Bang!”

Panel 2: A green shield with a crosshatch pattern blocks the bullet. The robber exclaims, “Huh? The bullet stopped!”

Panel 3: “With my metamaterial’s control over vibrations, I Acoustiman, will cancel the movement of your bullets!” Acoustiman steps into the bank with his biceps curled and his shield on his back.

Panel 4: Lady Unseen walks through the door to the room the hostages are in casting a beam of metamaterial in front of her, “this way everyone! I’m Lady Unseen and my metamaterial will cloak us during our escape!”

Panel 5: Hostages flee the room with Lady Unseen under a translucent sheen.

Panel 6: Two of the robbers are suddenly grey from the neck down. “What the !?” “I can’t move!”

Panel 7: The third robber is also grey, “My clothes have turned to stone!”

Panel 8: Shapeshifter enters through the hole holding a scaley tablet, “that’s the metamaterial of Shapeshifter!”

Page 13

Aditi is still imagining the scene:

Panel 1: Police lead the robbers away, “thank you metaheroes!”

Panel 2: Lady Unseen poses with one fist up, “Lady Unseen can manipulate optical waves and make herself and others invisible.”

Panel 3: Superlenser poses with hands on his hips. “Superlenser can redirect light rays and beams in his desired manner.”

Panel 4: Shapershifters poses with her hands on her hips, “Shapeshifter can change the shape of objects and their properties.”

Panel 5: Acoustiman poses with his biceps curled, “Acoustiman can control sound and acoustic vibrations.”

Page 14

Panel 1: Close up on Seth, “You seem distracted Aditi.”

Panel 3: Aditi: “Huh? Oh, sorry! I was just imagining a comic about metaheroes whose powers are based on metamaterials.”

Panel 4: Aditi reaches into her backpack to grab a folded piece of paper, Jessi: “Sounds like a great idea! You should apply for the comics-science fellowship!”

Panel 5: Aditi starts unfolding the paper, “oh yeah! I have their flyer with me!”

Panel 6: Aditi holds up the Science and Comics Initiative flyer, “I was thinking about applying. Do you guys wanna help?”