Slashdot Mirror
Stretchy Wires to Create Artificial Nerves
Roland Piquepaille writes "Researchers from the Johns Hopkins University have built electronic circuits which exhibit a rubbery behavior. The flexible circuits, built by using gold springs, can stretch like rubber. And Nature says that these stretchy wires can be used to create artificial nerves bending inside our bodies or wearable electronics. 'Wiring like this could be woven into stretchy sports clothing and used to connect up sensors that monitor athletic performance. Rubbery electrodes made from biocompatible materials might be attached to a beating heart and used to sense impending problems.' This overview contains more details and references about these flexible wires."
...they're putting them into condoms to build up a database for "virtual sex"?
500GB of disk, 5TB of transfer, $5.95/mo
I mean, I've had 'flexible wiring' in my clothes for years. Also, I make my own clothes out of tinfoil and rags.
Thrills for you and for her - with the optional audio input, you too cam throb to the music of lurrrve gods such as Barry White or Motorhead!
oh brave new world, that has such people in it!
As soon as they said Rubbery Behavior, I am thinking of this ultra advanced underwear.
What a change since the medievil days when knights used to wear potato-sack-material like underwear.
"Wiring like this could be woven into stretchy sports clothing and used to connect up sensors that monitor athletic performance."
With the tight restriction on performance enhancing drugs in the Olympics and now mainstream sports, how will this possibly be allowed?
And even if it was legalized, how much stretching can the body take before succumbing to injury?
Perhaps the bendy straw people should sue.
"The wires can stretch to over half their original length."
Is it me, or does this violate some law of grammar, physics, or both?
If moderation could change anything, it would be illegal.
"The wires can stretch over half their original length."
I wonder if this could help patients with I.C. It's rather painful and if the "new nerves" can be made to ignore certain impulses...that'd be very beneficial. Very intriguing, anyway
Excersize control: imagine your DVD playing the workout tape, and a machine monitoring your muscles as you work out. The DVD says "You need to work harder on your abs, the muscles aren't working hard enough". THAT would be cool. I know I could use it.
Nobodies Prefect
Tidbits for Techs Technology Blog
Caption from Graphic:The wires can stretch to over half their original length.
Elsewhere, cars were noticed to speed up to over half their original speed! Proof readers were able to increase their accuracy to over half their original accuracy! I increased my IQ to over half it's original size!
[signature]
This sounds more like artificial muscles.
--- Ban humanity.
Stretchy wires would sure help my DDR pad from breaking....hey, one can only hope, right?
Science discovery: Springs are spring-like, also some metal conducts electricity. Quick someone grab a patent!
Now we will have to go to a certified mechanic to get our bodies checked out. It will be like our cars. We can't work on them any more becuase you need a computer to diagnose what the problem is. Soon we will have doctors hooking us up to machines to see what wrong. /paranoia
I love the smell of napalm in the morning....
As another example of the article being poorly put together: The article states "The usual way to make stretchable conductors is to embed metal particles in a rubbery polymer. But the particles tend to separate when the material is stretched, causing the electrical conductivity to plummet."
But the research in the end use a polymer which I assume would have to be rubbery in order to strech with the spring.
" Instead of fashioning the gold wires into helical springs, however, they gave them a flat, oscillating shape, like a meandering river, since this is easier to make. They manufactured them by electroplating gold onto a sheet of silver, surrounding the wires with polymer and then stripping the silver away."
Admittedly metal particles and metal wires are slightly different but a wire is simply a structure made up of particles.
I make my face look like this and concerned words come out.
InnerWeb
Freud might say that Intelligent Design is religion's ID.
Like all "nutritional supplements" the andro drug that Mark McGuire (apologize ahead of time for spelling) was banned from most sports when he was using it (and now is banned in baseball).
Athletes will use whatever technology is available to enhance their performance, regardless of what the intention of that technology really was. And with the money they make, you don't think they can pay off a sleazy surgeon to give them an added touch of flexibility?
Most devices/machines today depend heavily on a motors/engines/circuits that are not usually flexible and need to maintain a rigid structure. Sure, we try to cover/encapsulate these devices in a pleasing exterior (car bodies, plastic casings etc) in order to protect the hardware and us from the dangerous interiors.
Imagine cars made up of soft cushiony/rubbery material, which bounces back to absorb a collision...the metal body can dent in and absorb the force of the impact, but it works only against collisions against other cars/hard objects -- not against collisions with humans/animals and other "soft" substances.
Ofcourse, we could have a soft covering for cars, made of a cushiony substance, but the problem has been embedding circuits/machinery in the soft exteriors, because they tend to bend and damage the interiors.
Nature has found the perfect way to create organs/pumps/filters/wires which are made out of soft tissue, and is malleable enough to survive severe tension/distortion and bending.
Here's to hoping that one day we will be able to create soft fuzzy machines which won't be so hard on our water-bag bodies.
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
Seriously though, this sounds fine for integrating electronics into fabrics, but the "artificial nerve" idea conjures images on Christopher Reeve leaping up and tap dancing. This invention doesn't sound like it has any therapeutic uses that a normal wire doesn't. Perhaps users of vagus nerve stimulators or other devices requiring in vivo wiring could be a little more physically vigorous without worrying about things pulling or breaking... but I have my doubts about even that.
One kink and it's trash can city.
Sweet informative mod.
This might be the breakthrough the BION folks could use to advance their research.
Wow. Just what we needed. Yet another use for Gold. You know, it being so damn plentiful and all. I was just saying to myself, as I threw away another gold can of soda, "I sure how they find a use for this stuff, because if not, Gold doesn't oxidize or break down very easily, and it will burst our landfills if we don't start a recycling program!" Maybe all those out-of-work gold miners can finally feel useful again, and not be he butt of environmentalist hate.
Why don't they ever find a great new way to use garbage?
I would guess it's because garbage just ain't as purty as gold is.
I do realise Gold has special properties such as conductivity and hypoallergenic properties, but come on!
Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity
I'm feeling like I could be the 6 trillion dollar man any year now... between this, powered exoskeletal legs, BrainGate computer hacker upgrades, and health-enhancing contact lenses, I'll be a super sapper in no time. I wonder how much of this my beloved US Army has actually looked into.
Impeach The Most Crooked Liars
.Reply this message if only you are touched by God to help us as orphans and write your reply to this email address felixkamara@sirindia.com or call us directly with this telephone number +22507557724.
FROM.FELIX KAMARA
ADDRESS.MOTHER THREASA CAMP ABIDJAN COTE D'IVOIRE
TEL.22507557724
EMAIL ADDRESS. kamara2040@yahoo.com
CONFIDENTIAL
Dear Sir,
I am Felix Kamara the only son of late former Director of finance,Cheif Vincent Kamara Sierra-Leone diamond and mining corporation. I must confess my agitation is real, and my words is my bond, in this proposal.
My late father diverted this money meant for purchase of ammunition, for my country, during the peak of disastrous civil war in my country, now he has deposited the money with BANK in Abidjan, where I am residing under political asylum with my younger sister.
Now the war in my country is over with the help of ECOMOG soldiers, the present government of Sierra Leone has revoked the passport of all officers who served under the former regime and now ask countries to expel such person at the same time freeze their account and confiscate their asset, it is on this note that I am contacting you, all I needed from you is to furnish me with your bank particulars:
1) Account name
2) Account number
3) Bank address, telephone and fax number for easy communication
For you to assist me transfer this money in your private bank account, the said amount is (NINE Million Dollars) $9 Million. I am compensating you with 15 % of the total money amount, now all my hope is banked on you and I really wants to invest this money in your country, were their is stability of Government, political and economic welfare. Honestly I want you to believe that this transaction is real and never a joke. My late father Cheif Vincent Kamara gave me the photocopies of the certificate of deposit issued to him by BANK on the date of deposit, for you to be clarify because, I do not expose my self to anybody I see, I believe that you are able to keep his transaction secret for me because this money is the hope of my life, it is important.
Please call me immediately after you must have gone through my message fill free and make it urgent. That is the reason why I offered you 15 % of the total money amount, and in case of any other necessary expenses you might incur during this transaction.
N.B Try and negotiate for me some profitable blue chip investment opportunities which is risky free which I can invest with this money when it is transferred to your account, personally I am interested in estate management and hotel business, please advise me.
Call me back immediately you receive this message for more explanation.And promisse me my younger sister to be a father considering our situation and not to betray us. Thanks and God bless
Best regards Felix Kamara
NB: my late father used me the only son as the beneficiary / next of kin on the day of deposit and also told me I need a foreign assistance of a foreigner with a legitimate bank Account abroad who will stand as co-beneficiary and partner abroad
Maximum points for humour. Now for my rant:
This creates serious privacy issues. One day the US government will make it law for every US citizen to wear clothes made out of these bendy wires, working as sensors. This way the government can monitor your every action.
Indefinitely Detained US Citizen
are they going to coat them in extensible insulator, too?
and every crush-injury will destroy them
these guys need ome more requirements analysis
How long till I have to upgrade/patch the OS on my underwear?
... or as electrically conductive.
Maybe they can develop nerves strong enough to let me survive my mother asking for computer help.
From the article:
"the researchers estimate that the wires should be able to withstand several thousand cycles of extension and contraction."
That's no where NEAR what would be needed for any of the applications they mention. For example, at 70 beats per minute your heart beats 100,800 times per day. Assuming each step a runner takes covers 3 feet (very approximate here), then a "cycle" (back to starting configuration) is 6 ft. That's 880 "cycles" per mile. A single 6 mile run is therefore over 5000 cycles.
Several thousand "cycles of extension and contraction" is not even close to enough for any real world app. Who wants to have that internal heart monitor replaced several times each day? How about that high-tech single use "smart" sweatshirt?
These will need to be in the 100's of thousands to millions of cycles for their lifespan before they have any real utility.
Life is short: void the warranty.
And then they can monitor what stimulates you, and know all of your perversions!
I think perhaps you are forgetting one thing: Now your tinfoil hat can be stylish, comfortable, and stealthy enough for you to leave your house!
Crap, on second thought, this makes it even worse on the rest of us...
:)But, you know, it's you who feels that burn, brought to you by the human nervous system. And I'm not sure you wouldn't need the trainer to help you attach the wires from your DVD to your abs... So where's the gain?
Seriously, maybe you'd like to interact with a fit young man or woman from the gym rather than the Magnavox repair guy? I know I could use that.
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
Sounds related to "Muscle Wire" special wires used in a field of robotics called "BEAM" to cause movement without motors. Basically they are wires made of different metals fused together so that they react to electrical charge by contracting. Some really cool insect bots made from them can be found here: http://www.solarbotics.net/bestiary/2502_walker_2m ot_gal.html
Muscle Wire: Muscle Wires are thin, highly processed strands of a nickel-titanium alloy called Nitinol - a type of Shape Memory Alloy that can assume radically different forms or "phases" at distinct temperatures.
However, when conducting an electric current, the wire heats and changes to a much harder form that returns to the "unstretched" shape - the wire shortens in length with a usable amount of force.
.-=Wit is educated insolence=-. -Aristotle
Guess flexible wiring is more pleasant to be strapped into than a squid or a cuttlefish, though I doubt it'd be as fast. Cephalopods have very fast nervous systems, they're lightning quick partly as a result.
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
It's the cord from a telephone handset.
Now why didn't they think of that decades ago?
Oh, wait, they did.
Nevermind.
Yeah, yeah, I know. It's FLAT. So maybe they've reinvented ramen noodles?
Anyone else horrified by the thought of this? i mean the first thing i thought of was the jack to my headphones, how every pair maybe lasts 2 weeks before either channel starts going out, or gets huge static.
just happily walking down the street someday with your new artificial leg, and all of a sudden the "nerves" give out and you take a face dive.. or in the case of the static, you could have the physical equivalent to tourettes; standing in line at the bank when all of a sudden your arm goes and punches the guy in front of you in the back of the head, and then yourself in the face a few times.. gives a new meaning to frayed nerves..
most metals just dont last long with a large amount of torsion. (for lack of a better word)
I'm feeling so wired today.
This kind of thing could be used to create more resilient ribbon cables than we have now. If these things can tolerate repeated 180 degree bends and being pinch off at weird angles frequently over a long period of time, laptop designers may have finally met their new best friend!
8==8 Bones 8==8
Really, these new springy wires are small. If you are planning to build a condom with one of these things, give up. You're going to neeed a lot more than Robo-Rubber to thrill her.
Why do I have this? I don't smoke.
The last thing I want geeks designing is my clothes. I'm not fond of the short-sleeve-polo-with-company-logo, okay!
Intelligent Design: because MATH is HARD.
To all of those who responded with something about putting this technology in clothes: What is to stop this from happening now? for the most part clothing doesn't stretch as much as these wires do. The technology is here today for wiring up your clothes, just not for processing it in the fabric. Maybe before you think of wild uses for new technology, you should think about current ways that it could already be done.
This could be a good move to making androids, giving them a sense of touch. or people who have prosthetic limbs.. would be very good, we're getting there.. slowly but surely.
"Boy, you've got some nerve!" "You like it? I just had it grafted in this morning"
(metal) wires don't consist of covalent bonds but the metal in them is bound by so-called "metallic bonds" (or whatever is the exact english translation)... :)
The reason is that covalent bonds are directed bonds that have to be broken when a material changes its form where metal bonds are isotropic and as such don't need to be broken while the material gets a new form.
Of course there exist zillions of bonds that are neither the one nor the other exactly
But for "usual" metals like iron, coper, silver, gold etc the above is pretty much correct
"Sir, this is Agent Dobkins from the Department of Defense. We were wondering if you could explain some strange activity on or around the 19th."
What kind of 'activity'?
"Well, our random monitor happened to pick on you for that evening - every citizen gets chosen at some point in their lives, you understand - and we detected a large amount of agitation in your right forearm at approximately 11pm."
Uh...
"Can you explain what you might have been doing with your right forearm at 11pm, Sir?"
Uh...
"Do you now or have you ever had any contact with Al-Quaeda? Have you ever studied sign language?"
*bright red*
"It's the cord from a telephone handset.
Now why didn't they think of that decades ago?
Oh, wait, they did.
Nevermind.
Yeah, yeah, I know. It's FLAT. So maybe they've reinvented ramen noodles?"
It zig-zags. The concept is called SLACK. I first read about this technique being used on the Alaskan pipeline so as the ground moved, the pipe would have slack to bend and stretch, not break.
Also nice for connecting pacemakers to hearts and other serious stuff! Less worries about breaking cables.
-- Cheers!
it doesn't matter how soft the car body is if it weighs 2000 pounds and travels at 30 miles an hour, it will kill a person that gets in front of it.
keep smoking that stuff, but don't endanger others
Can this be used to replace a damaged nerve? I dislocated my shoulder many years ago in wrestling. I tore one of my Rhomboid muscles (Major or Minor, I forget which) and stretched one of the Brachial Plexus nerves (the one that went to my right hand). The doctor said I damn near severed the nerve, which wouldn't have been good. He said a repeat of the injury, even a minor repeat, would most likely sever the nerve for good so he ended my wrestling career then and there. Damn. If these new stretchy nerves can be used internally, well that would be a damn good thing. Brachial Plexus nerve damage is a common type of damage done by typical childbirth if the baby's shoulder gets hung up during delivery.
or else that webserver would be screaming in pain right now.
So...when can I get my ocular implants that allow me to see infra-red? =D
No doubt someone here reads Popular Science. Now, does anyone remember the P2 suit concept a while ago? Sportswear that would use piezoelectric and Peltier effect devices (hence P2) to recharge and control body temperature. Even built-in vital signs monitors or MP3 players. Why couldn't these devices be used in those? Just imagine, out snowboarding(or skiing, just snowsports) and your body suit automatically keeps you warm - or cools you off - using power generated by movement, vibration, and the occasional fall. I want one... Forget the condoms, who's going to buy them at $20 a piece anyway?
There's an old saying that says pretty much whatever you want it to.