Superantenna

The idea is to build one superantenna in the town and then pipe its reception by wire into the subscriber's living-room set.

The firms employed strategically located superantennas to pick up distant signals, which were then amplified and sent directly into the homes of subscribers by means of a wire called a coaxial cable.

Experiment—who knows, you may discover a revolutionary new shape for the superantenna of the future.

Beyond military applications, cloaking devices are drawing interest from telecommunications companies, who see them as a way to send information by light more efficiently. One idea is to use the new materials to build "superantennas" that can concentrate light and other electromagnetic waves to make laser-like beams.

Known as "Project Echo," the experiment used this superantenna to bounce a signal off a giant mylar balloon in orbit above the Earth. The call went from a site in Holmdel, N.J., near the laboratory headquarters, out to Goldstone in California.

The problem with solar outages was not resolved, but another exciting possibility presented itself: Humans could use the sun as a superantenna, and, through it, broadcast radio waves to the universe.