While Nala and Hanuman experiment with air-powered vehicles on their way to meet Nila, Meghnath learns about stealth technology from Shakthi.
Shakthi: Meghnath, do you know about a technology called RADAR (Radio Detection And Ranging)?
Meghnath: No. What is it?
Shakthi: Radio waves are used to detect any kind of flying object in the sky.
Meghnath: How?
Shakthi: Just like light waves bounce off objects and reach our eyes, the transmitted radio waves reflect and reach a receiver that reads the object’s size.
Meghnath: Sounds like nothing can escape a RADAR’s eyes!
Shakthi: It can if you have the right technology.
Meghnath: A technology to counter a technology! That sounds interesting.
Shakthi: Yes. It’s called stealth technology.
Megnath: How is it possible for a large flying object to avoid being detected by these invisible radio waves?
Shakthi: Usually, these flying machines can escape from being spotted by human eyes by flying at a very high altitude. But, to escape the invisible radio waves, they use science. Now, tell me, how does a radar detect an object?
Meghnath: By sending across radio waves that will reflect off an object and return to it.
Shakthi: What if the object being detected does not allow the radio waves to reflect back to the receiver and instead deflects or diverts it into another direction?
Meghnath: That sounds like a good idea. How is it done?
Shakthi: Simple. By designing the vehicle like a diamond, the incoming radio waves will either be diverted or absorbed. Now that you have learnt what you came for, it is time to return to your consciousness. You can come back to me anytime.
Meghnath: Thank you, Goddess Shakthi. You are a great teacher
Shakthi smiles and slowly fades away and Meghnath snaps out of the photon world. (See this episode) Immediately, he sets to work building his own stealth vehicle.
The writer is the founder and CEO of Vaayusastra Aerospace, an IIT-Madras incubated ed-tech startup that offers Air Science workshops for children between five and 14 years.
