We all know what it means to be able to unlock the unknown, but this is exactly the opposite. Locking the known forever and ever

"Multilinear maps are a key element of the new approach to the powerful cryptographic protocol called indistinguishability obfuscation (iO). These maps act like a polynomial calculating machine with a system of secret lockers containing the values of variables."

See: Computer Scientists Achieve 'Crown Jewel' of Cryptography.