Victor Veselage, in a paper Published in 1998, pondered the consequences for electromagnetic waves interacting with a hypothetical material for which both the electronic permittivity &egr; and the magnetic permeability &mgr; were simultaneously negative. Because no naturally occurring material or compound has ever been demonstrated with negative &egr; and &mgr;, Veselago wondered whether this apparent asymmetry in material properties was just happenstance or perhaps had a more fundamental origin. He concluded that not only should such materials be possible, but if ever found, they would exhibit remarkable properties unlike those of any known materials and would give a twist to virtually all electromagnetic phenomena. Foremost among these properties is a negative index of refraction.