Dropping Science: New Tech For A New Year : Flexible Electronics

By Kate Gammon , published on December 30, 2008 at 2:30 PM
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Twisting, bending, and flexing are not typically actions you ask of your consumer electronics. But a team of engineers based at Northwestern University has developed a new type of circuit that can flex to more poses than a yoga guru. In the past, most circuits have been flat and unbendable, mostly because silicon, the principal component of all electronics, is brittle and inflexible. Bending or stretching would break the silicon and render the device dead on arrival. The team of researchers found a bendy way to get around this problem by making the circuits tiny, and arranging metal “pop-up bridges” to fit between them. They hope the tech will be used in places where flat, rigid electronics would fail, like medical devices and flexible solar panels.

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Comments
DGriffin 12/31/2008 8:59 AM
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What an idiotic idea!!! What if an other person in the car wants to use their cell phone???? What if there is an emergency!?!?!?!

zodiacfml 12/31/2008 10:40 AM
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i agree, no one will buy that car. hehe

Anonymous 12/31/2008 2:28 PM
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You can't be serious? If you can't tell a recorded disc from an original one with your bare eyes you need to check your glasses.

Anonymous 12/31/2008 2:39 PM
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Electronic gyros are nothing new, they've been around in r/c helis for several years. And they're not very expensive. Cheapest goes for 20 bucks.

Anonymous 12/31/2008 4:08 PM
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Umm.. the difference between a pressed(original) cd and a copy(burned) is that a pressed cd's data (0 and 1) are represented by physical pits and peaks whereas a burned cd's information is represented by burned (reflective and not reflective) marks on a flat plain. Make a system to differentiate peaks (which are reflective, but does not reflect into the target sensor) from non-reflective burn marks. Then you can tell which is a copy, and which is an original.

Balshoy 01/03/2009 1:15 AM
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Great another way to entice road rage... turn the mobile off while blocked in traffic.

Anonymous 01/06/2009 8:41 AM
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Robotic Clams...? Yes, finally! what we've all been waiting for!

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