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The First Plastic Computer Processor

jcombel writes "There's been a lot of talk lately about developing replacements for silicon; how about a nearly-transparent film of plastic, woven into clothing or affixed directly to equipment? From the article, 'Researchers in Europe used 4,000 plastic, or organic, transistors to create the plastic microprocessor, which measures roughly two centimeters square and is built on top of flexible plastic foil. ... The processor can so far run only one simple program of 16 instructions. The commands are hardcoded into a second foil etched with plastic circuits that can be connected to the processor to "load" the program. This allows the processor to calculate a running average of an incoming signal, something that a chip involved in processing the signal from a sensor might do.'"

5 of 73 comments (clear)

  1. Finally! by evildarkdeathclicheo · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now geeks can get socially acceptable plastic surgery.

  2. Obligatory by Even+on+Slashdot+FOE · · Score: 4, Funny

    16 instructions should be enough for everybody!

  3. Re:A sheet of plastic is not "foil". by _0xd0ad · · Score: 3, Informative

    No, that'd be a plastic/metal composite.

    Also, composite does not mean the same thing as a polymer. A composite is a mixture of chemically distinct materials; in a polymer, the materials have chemically combined to form polymerized molecules.

    Composite: a solid material which is composed of two or more substances having different physical characteristics and in which each substance retains its identity while contributing desirable properties to the whole

    Polymer: a chemical compound or mixture of compounds formed by [a chemical reaction in which two or more molecules combine to form larger molecules that contain repeating structural units]

  4. Re:And I still fail to see a use.... by wierd_w · · Score: 4, Interesting

    BCI devices.

    A flexible sheet of plastic is more durable inside a human body than is a silicon substrate. Especially in soft tissues, like brain tissues. It weighs less, and as such tugs less on the tissue when the subject moves around, theoretically resulting in less neural scar tissue.

    Alternatively, REALLY cheap processors for consumer toys.

  5. Re:Not the first plastic computer processor by jbeaupre · · Score: 3, Funny
    --
    The world is made by those who show up for the job.