hahahahaha
New material could enable wearable electronics.
The University of Exeter in England have created the most transparent, lightweight and flexible material ever for conducting electricity. Called GraphExeter, the material could revolutionise the creation of wearable electronic devices, such as clothing containing computers, phones and MP3 players.
GraphExeter could also be used for the creation of ‘smart’ mirrors or windows, with computerised interactive features. Since this material is also transparent over a wide light spectrum, it could enhance by more than 30% the efficiency of solar panels.
Adapted from graphene, GraphExeter is much more flexible than indium tin oxide (ITO), the main conductive material currently used in electronics. ITO is becoming increasingly expensive and is a finite resource, expected to run out in 2017.
To create GraphExeter, the Exeter team sandwiched molecules of ferric chloride between two layers of graphene. Ferric chloride enhances the electrical conductivity of graphene, without affecting the material’s transparency.
(Source: exeter.ac.uk)
Remember how graphene, the single-atom thick layer of carbon was so slick it was
going to change everything? Well it looks like silicene is here to steal the spotlight. Researchers have just made the first sheet of single-atom thick silicon.
Silicene has been a work in progress for years, but they think they’ve finally got it down now, and it represents a tremendous breakthrough. Graphene is awesome, but it’s proven a bit tricky to work it into components. Because silicene is made of silicon, which most chips are already made of, the integration process could be much simpler.
Patrick Vogt of Berlin’s Technical University in Germany, along side researchers at Aix-Marseille University in France managed to create silicene by condensing silicon vapor onto a silver plate to form a single layer of atoms. They then tested the sheet and found that it closely matched the properties silicene was theorized to exhibit. The next (challenging) step will be to grow silicene on insulating substrates so that it can be fully tested and evaluated for potential future uses in electronics. Looking forward to see what they do with this stuff. [New Scientist]
Image Credit: WikiCommons/Ayandata
‘Mister T’ designed by Antoine Lesur.
I’m all about saving space, and this innovative product by Antoine Lesur is just that. Not only is it modern, sleek and aesthetically pleasing, it is completely functional. ‘Mister T’ can be used in multiple different ways to suit anyones needs.
“Mister T is an occasional furniture composed of a basket, a tray and two cushions. It was conceived to offer several basic functionalities in one product, without the arrogance of a modularity. MISTER T is neither a coffee table, nor a chair, nor a footrest, but a little of each.”
ckck:
Seems like IKEA are really shaking things up this year. In addition to the previously announced TV set, they’re also going to release a digital camera made of cardboard called Knäppa (“Snap”). It’ll hold 40 photographs at a time and plugs directly into your USB port. While it’s not the prettiest camera the world has ever seen, I do love the idea of a screen-less digital camera that brings people back to the wait-and-see days of film.
