[A] group of French scientists hopes to build on work that showed how light can be manipulated to make objects invisible.

The cloaking technique renders an object invisible by bending light of specific frequencies around the target. In theory, the same principles might be used to deflect incoming seismic waves. A precisely tuned array of boreholes around a city or a nuclear power plant that resonate at the frequencies characteristic of quakes could thus dampen the vibrations and shield objects.

The French team’s small demo with acoustic waves in soil worked, deflecting the incoming energy around the target area.

Via Scientific American.