Now you see it, now you don't: Thermal vision cameras detect differences in temperature by sensing infrared wavelengths. If a coating could be developed that showed dynamic tuning of the effective temperature, it might be possible to hide objects from infrared sensing. Xu et al. started with a basic Bragg reflector made up of multiple layers of alternating materials with varying refractive index. The authors designed structures that were wavy to begin with so that they could be flattened out by electrical activation. This changed the infrared reflectivity and, thus, the effective temperature of the object observed in its infrared profile. Science , this issue p. 1495

Effective thermal management is critical for the operation of many modern technologies, such as electronic circuits, smart clothing, and building environment control systems. By leveraging the static infrared-reflecting design of the space blanket and drawing inspiration from the dynamic color-changing ability of squid skin, we have developed a composite material with tunable thermoregulatory properties. Our material demonstrates an on/off switching ratio of ~25 for the transmittance, regulates a heat flux of ~36 W/m² with an estimated mechanical power input of ~3 W/m², and features a dynamic environmental setpoint temperature window of ~8 °C. Moreover, the composite can manage one fourth of the metabolic heat flux expected for a sedentary individual and can also modulate localized changes in a wearer’s body temperature by nearly 10-fold. Due to such functionality and associated figures of merit, our material may substantially reduce building energy consumption upon widespread deployment and adoption.

The skin morphology of cephalopods endows them with remarkable camouflage capabilities. Herein, we report infrared invisibility stickers inspired by the structures and proteins found in cephalopod skin. These stickers enable arbitrary objects to acquire reconfigurable infrared camouflage patterning. Our work represents an initial step towards wearable biomimetic infrared stealth technologies.