A side-by-side with a photo of a leafhopper on the left and black-and-white image of brochosomes on the right.
Leafhoppers (left) are a common backyard insect that secrete amazingly complex nanoparticles called brochosomes (right).
  • Leafhoppers are the only species that secrete brochosomes: rare nanoparticles with invisibility properties.
  • But for the first time, a group of scientists has created their own synthetic brochosomes.
  • They hope their brochosomes will one day be used for invisible cloaking devices and other technologies.

We tend to think of invisibility cloaks as science fiction. But one group of scientists has taken a big step toward making them a reality.