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Plastic That Changes Shape In Light
JLavezzo writes "Picture a flower that opens when facing the sunlight. In work that mimics that sensitivity to light, MIT Engineer Robert Langer and his German colleagues have created the first plastics that can be deformed and temporarily fixed into shape by light. This material could one day lead to medical devices that build themselves inside a patient's body, or door latches that can be opened with a flashlight. Additional commentary available at The Science Blog"
I thought you couldn't light the inside your body.
I was under the assumption that was the one place the sun don't shine.
liqbase
No Flash Photography Please
Yeah, like Shrinky Dinks this'll be a hit with the mail-order or discount store crowd before you know it.
People tend to forget what cyanoacrylate's first purpose was.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
door latches that can be opened with a flashlight.
Right... 'cause we all want a door that opens itself every morning when the sun comes up!
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
I had one of those Star Wars Speeders that fit Luke and Ben Kenobi action figures as a kid. It was all plastic. I accidentally left it on the dashboard of my mom's car during a sunny day.
Sure enough, light changed its shape irrevocably.
This could be the ultimate cure for geeks. Simply wear special plastic goggles that restrict vision (and hence computer access) if wearer does not go outside.
The toad can't burp - and for some reason can't fart either, so it swells up and eventually explodes. --Anonymous Coward
Personally, I'd like some self-adjusting miniblinds.
"No fair, you changed the outcome by measuring it!" - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth
Inside sources have confirmed that Longhorn will have a cool feature called 'irregular display'. If the use hits 'windows key + $ + ^ + F13' the screen would emit a low wave length light that will deform the monitor. You can preset the deformation patterns before hand. This revolutionary feature uses the 'plastic deformable by light' discovered recently at MIT.
"This is a unique feature which will help us take on OS X Tiger" - Gates
The only problem is that once deformed the monitors cannot be reverted to their orignal shape. MS is hoping that the users wont discover this bug. They might fix this in Service Pack 24 for Longhorn.
fuvoo: watch something
Chasitity belts!
The toad can't burp - and for some reason can't fart either, so it swells up and eventually explodes. --Anonymous Coward
Just think about the dash on the clunker you drove in high school.
It's a perfect time for being wasted.
A perfect time to watch the stars.
- Burden Brothers, "Beautiful Night"
When will somone invent a viagra replacement using this technology? BOING...
Real doll when you have visitors over, but when the lights turn off at night she transforms like cinderella.
Have you ever been to a turkish prison?
They can stay smallish during the week so the lady doesn't get unwanted catcalls, then when she puts on a bikini - POP!
Ah, plastics... truly better living through technology!
The revolution will NOT be televised.
Well, my wife does. It can sort of shapeshift. It is plastic as well and if anybody but me or her see it it becomes a "Back Massager".
Turk: Let's play Steak. J.D.: What? Turk: Steak. The 1st person to finish their steak is the winner of Steak. -Scrubs
I have met some women who have faces made out of this stuff. Unfortunately I had to find out the hard way.
You have to appreciate the mind of a scientist.
Scientist1: Dude, look at this plastic. When it comes in contact with ultraviolet light, the plastic forms bonds with itself, causing it to change shape.
Scientist2: Awesome! If you hit it with another frequency, the proccess reverses itself.
Businessman: Hm. What sort of applications do you think this could have?
Scientist2: App-li-kay-shuns?
Scientist1: Uh, you could make toys out of it. Or... maybe like you could have it bend into... uh... medical things. For medicine.
Businessman: I'm cutting your funding.
Scientist1: WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME?!?
"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." -- Hanlon's Razor