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Chemical "Infofuses" Communicate Without Electricity

Posted by kdawson on from the can-you-see-me-now dept.

Al writes "Researchers at Harvard and Tufts University have developed a way to send coded messages without using electricity. David Walt, professor of chemistry at Tufts, and Harvard's George Whitesides have developed 'infofuses' that can transmit information simply by burning. The fuses — metallic salts depositing on a nitrocellulose strand — emit pulses of infrared and visible light of different colors whose sequence encodes information. They were developed in response to a call from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for technologies to allow soldiers stranded without a power source to communicate. In the first demonstration of the idea, they used the infofuses to transmit the message look mom no electricity." Currently the researchers are "trying to figure out a way to dynamically encode a message on the fly in the field without specialized equipment."

5 of 115 comments (clear)

  1. In other news... by kpainter · · Score: 4, Funny

    DARPA researchers discover messages can be transmitted using nothing more than a simple mirror.

  2. cause... by Random2 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    cause, you know...sending smoke signals when stranded in enemy territory is really going to help you....

    --
    "Our goal each year should be to increase the number of goals we set for ourselves!"
  3. Weird by pete-classic · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Step 1, smoke a cigarette under a poncho. Step 2, light an "infofuse". Step 3, get shot in the face.

    My Drill Sargent demonstrated how easy it is to spot someone smoking in the dark.

    Is a crank-powered radio really out of the question? I mean, it would even work during the day.

    -Peter

  4. Re:Doesn't seem terribly practical. by camperdave · · Score: 4, Funny

    One thing that might be interesting, the ability to produce a powerful radio signal by some chemical means.

    It's called a battery. You hook it up to your walkie-talkie, and away you go.

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
  5. Re:Tarps, flags, semaphore, mirrors.... by fooslacker · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Maybe I'm feeding the trolls but perhaps the key is that it's not a giant flag telling the enemy where you are down behind enemy lines. Maybe the fact that it's IR and can be activated when you hear your rescue run coming could have something to do with the fact that DARPA finds value in it.