Engineers have been developing earthquake-resistant buildings for
years, but a group of physics experts now believe it's possible to make an
entire building effectively disappear from an earthquake's destructive
path, avoiding serious damage. Inspired by the recent development of
novel materials that precisely control the flow of light waves around
objects, they've shown that the same ideas can work whether the waves
make up light, sound or earthquakes. The American Institute of Psychics reports:
Earthquakes are some of the most destructive forces in nature. The waves they produce ripple across the earth's surface, much as water waves travel across the ocean. The waves from earthquakes crumple buildings, bridges, and other structures, causing millions of dollars in damage and often death. Despite efforts to understand earthquakes and reinforce buildings against them, damage from the shaking ground is nearly impossible to avoid. But that may not be the case for long, say a team of physicists in France and the United Kingdom.
