Would you be interested in some invisibility cloak? Say, like what Harry Potter's got on him when he goes about the forbidden grounds of Hogwarts late at night? Or some camouflaging abilities, like Snake's in Metal Gear Solid? Well then, you'd most probably envy the octopus.

It is common fact that the octopus use its camouflaging abilities as self-defense from hungry predators in the ocean. The question is how do they do it? The answer to that mystery has now been found by scientists, and has even given birth to the idea that maybe, we humans could use and develop that technology for our own camouflaging powers.

The thing responsible for the octopus, squid and cuttlefish's "invisibility cloak" is leucophores. This can be found at the bottom layer of the octopus skin, and is composed of translucent, colourless, reflecting protein. Says zoologist Roger Hanlon, "Protein reflectors are very odd in the animal kingdom."

What makes this an even more pleasant surprise is the fact that these proteins actually reflect all wavelengths of light that hit at any angle. Now, that's precision. "These cells also match the intensity of the prevalent light," then explains Lydia Mathger, Hanlon's research associate. What this does is to help them blend into their surroundings.

As for the cuttlefish, the flat platelets known as iridophores in the layer lying on top of the leucophores are deemed to be responsible for giving some parts of the skin enhanced reflective properties. These platelets then enhance the brightness of the whiteness.

Now, the possibilities for future technology as we learn more about these properties are vast.  In fact, it's already being thought that we could do more than just mimic the color of our surroundings, but also, the creation of better optical fibres, for example. And who would be interested enough to invest money in not being seen? Hmmm...we're sure the military would be.