It’s pretty hard to fight an opponent you can’t see. That’s what makes Invisible Woman an invaluable member of the Fantastic Four. She can disappear in the blink of an eye and take out entire factions of enemies, all while her adversaries kick and punch empty air.
Characters with invisibility powers — Marvel Comics’ Invisible Woman (aka Sue Storm), H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man and The Incredibles’ Violet Parr — can do all sorts of cool things. Escape embarrassing situations. Snoop on other people. Go places where they’re not allowed.
Short of a theoretical invisibility cloak, that kind of lurking is impossible for us. But some animals can hide in plain sight by turning nearly transparent.
Invisibility is useful for animals that spend a lot of time in places with no good hiding spots, such as the air or open ocean, says Kate Feller, a visual ecologist at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y.
The secret to invisibility is all about light. “The way we see things is when light is reflected back off of an object onto our eyes,” Feller says. The more light that can pass through something undisturbed, the harder it is to see that thing.
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