'Rubber-Band Electronics' Can Stretch To 200 Percent Their Original Size

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'Rubber-Band Electronics' Can Stretch To 200 Percent Their Original Size

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday July 3, 2012 @06:11AM from the silly-putty-circuitboards dept.

Zothecula writes "In the quest to develop implantable electronics to monitor the human body from within, flexibility and stretchability have been major hurdles. We've seen numerous developments including stretchable LED arrays, an implantable device for measuring the heart's electrical output, and an electrode array that melts onto the surface of the brain. Now researchers have developed technology that combines a porous polymer and liquid metal that allows electronics to bend and stretch to more than 200 percent their original size (abstract)."

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A new era by GungaDan · 2012-07-03 06:13 · Score: 4, Funny

of teledildonics is surely upon us.

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Eloi are stupid, throw morlocks at them!
1. Re:A new era by Unificitation · 2012-07-03 06:23 · Score: 1
  
  Not new by any kind. These kind of devices were first introduced in the early 2000. Google is late to the party.
2. Re:A new era by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-03 06:25 · Score: 0
  
  Wait until the hentai Japanesse come up with new uses for it.
3. Re:A new era by camperslo · 2012-07-03 06:30 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Great. We'll go out to buy a 50" television and when we get home we'll discover the giant box has a 25" and we are expected to stretch it.
  Then there are the inflatable robots...
4. Re:A new era by Belial6 · 2012-07-03 06:45 · Score: 1
  
  It's 12' instead of 50", but is this what you are referring to? http://www.target.com/p/airblown-inflatable-widescreen-deluxe-outdoor-movie-screen-12/-/A-10806714?ref=tgt_adv_XSC10001&AFID=shopping_df&LNM=|10806714&CPNG=electronics&ci_src=13736960&ci_sku=10806714&
5. Re:A new era by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-03 08:26 · Score: 0
  
  Mmmm... dildo devices have been introduced for centuries.
6. Re:A new era by camperslo · 2012-07-03 09:04 · Score: 1
  
  I was laughingly thinking of something with electronics, where the user might be surprised to find it needed to be stretched to get to the advertised size. But I like the idea of a television that deflates when shot or stabbed...
  Will technology help save mankind? Just think of the efficiency of having the homeless earn money as walking video ad platforms using wearable electronics. With more ad area, overweight people might actually prove superior for the task. Methane fuel-cell underwear? Man is not obsolete, people can be productive.
7. Re:A new era by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-03 09:27 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Who buys a 12" Stonehenge?
Killer App - As in Killer Cyborg App that is! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-03 06:14 · Score: 0

So, know we know the technology the T-1000 is based on.
Melts onto the surface of the brain? by s_p_oneil · 2012-07-03 06:17 · Score: 1

Melts onto the surface of the brain? I can't imagine that being abused.
1. Re:Melts onto the surface of the brain? by icebike · 2012-07-03 06:52 · Score: 1
  
  Queue the Borg posts in 3, 2, 1,,,,
  
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  Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
2. Re:Melts onto the surface of the brain? by Pec · 2012-07-03 08:03 · Score: 1
  
  It remind me of Milo Manara's Comic Book "The Click".
  
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  This is a .sig
3. Re:Melts onto the surface of the brain? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-03 09:32 · Score: 0
  
  reminds me of a cultural reference that involves you being a nerdy virgin
4. Re:Melts onto the surface of the brain? by RespekMyAthorati · 2012-07-03 13:01 · Score: 1
  
  I was thinking of the T-1000.
5. Re:Melts onto the surface of the brain? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-03 14:01 · Score: 0
  
  Well, at least now there's the physical possibility of showing/demoing the "stretch of imagination".
Ummm... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-03 06:18 · Score: 0

Hey Frylock! I think I found that chip you were looking for!
One sticking point left by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-03 06:34 · Score: 0

They've so far been unable to make it so when you press the electronics on a iPad, a mirror of the screen image is copied onto the electronics.
Space age polymers! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-03 06:34 · Score: 0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKYuqbTOY2k
How about for frivolous things? by ackthpt · 2012-07-03 06:43 · Score: 1

Imagine the frist time you meet someone in a nightclub with leds under their skin...

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A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
1. Re:How about for frivolous things? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-03 06:50 · Score: 0
  
  Oh no, that'll be so much worse than the random piercings, tattoos, surgically inserted eye decorations, or any of the other drek that people do to get attention!
  Personally, I want the new body-alteration craze to be glow in the dark/blacklight tattoos. In normal lighting, some observant people might notice a mild discoloration, but once you go to the UV flooded rave, the art shines clearly. (also fun on certain Disney rides)
2. Re:How about for frivolous things? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-03 06:56 · Score: 0
  
  This could technically meet your criteria. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8brGO6LkOzc
3. Re:How about for frivolous things? by CastrTroy · 2012-07-03 07:15 · Score: 2
  
  It's already been done
  
  --
  
  Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
4. Re:How about for frivolous things? by newcastlejon · 2012-07-03 07:56 · Score: 1
  
  Oh no, that'll be so much worse than the random piercings, tattoos, surgically inserted eye decorations, or any of the other drek that people do to get attention!
  Except you could turn them off. Personally, I'd pay good money for an implantable watch that ran on energy from glucose in the blood or some such.
  
  Personally, I want the new body-alteration craze to be glow in the dark/blacklight tattoos. In normal lighting, some observant people might notice a mild discoloration, but once you go to the UV flooded rave, the art shines clearly. (also fun on certain Disney rides)
  These things, along with metallic inks, already exist though they are somewhat rare and the ink formulations still have some issues such as longevity and brightness.
  
  --
  If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
5. Re:How about for frivolous things? by Obfuscant · 2012-07-03 10:24 · Score: 1
  
  Personally, I'd pay good money for an implantable watch that ran on energy from glucose in the blood or some such.
  You could make a fortune if you could make a device that would monitor the glucose level and simply burn excess above ~100 mcg/L. Sits in the renal or hepatic artery and dumps waste product into the lower intestine or bladder directly. Much better use of the technology than a simple watch.
Liquid Metal? by boristdog · 2012-07-03 06:46 · Score: 1

Where have I heard this before?
Liquid metal? What could possibly go wrong? by drinkypoo · 2012-07-03 06:51 · Score: 1

Liquid metal in a porous rubber container inside of your body? What could possibly go wrong?

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"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Stretching the Imagination of Design by NicknamesAreStupid · 2012-07-03 07:12 · Score: 2

In a world where circuit speeds have made timing issues out of the lengths of traces, having a signal line that stretches adds a new dimension to design.
1. Re:Stretching the Imagination of Design by sconeu · 2012-07-03 07:37 · Score: 1
  
  I'm not sure if you were going for Insightful or Funny with this one!
  
  --
  General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
2. Re:Stretching the Imagination of Design by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-03 07:55 · Score: 0
  
  Amen, brother!
  I got into a pissing match with some wingnut on another forum about SMPSUs. He claimed that you couldn't just pop in a 25V cap to replace a garbage 16V cap, because the Equivalent Series Inductance (ESL) change made the switcher not startup. He also (didn't) provide proof of this statement, only saying that even the OEMs Service Bulletins say this.
  I cried Bovine Scatology, saying that the problems are: 1) The designer who doesn't allow for the end-servicer to make slight adjustments to component values based on parts-on-hand is an idiot. 2) The change in ESL would only amount to a couple of nanoHenries (I actually calculated it later, I was off by only 0.17nH!), and, again, it's a piss-poor design. 3) If a whopping 1.83nH induced in the output filter caps causes your PSU not to start, then you're putting electrolytics where they shouldn't be, as the thing is running well over 500KHz! Use OSCONs, Tantalums, or polys.
  So, yeah, add yet another thing (variable lead length) to this equation, and we'll have end-users returning things in droves, because that Power Glove their friend has works at high-speed, but their stretched-to-all-get-out-ham-fisted glove won't run above a snail's pace.
  Damn wingnuts.
3. Re:Stretching the Imagination of Design by newcastlejon · 2012-07-03 07:59 · Score: 1
  
  Maybe with a little luck it'll get people interested in clockless systems again.
  
  --
  If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
wo hoo perfect for americas waistline by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-03 07:21 · Score: 0

which means all the fat people must rejoice. Just think: 200 times so they can buy a pant and it will fit them for almost a year :)
Guitar cord bungee jumping can't be far off! by Kaz+Kylheku · 2012-07-03 08:17 · Score: 1

Amp stack stays on the bridge, player rocks out over the edge.
1. Re:Guitar cord bungee jumping can't be far off! by Kaz+Kylheku · 2012-07-03 08:18 · Score: 1
  
  ... although, we have wireless for that, so, dumb idea.
This has potential by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-03 10:04 · Score: 0

I'd love to carry a small phone or iPad in my pocket, and when I want to use the device, stretch it out to a usable size.
One problem in customer electronics is making devices that are small enough to be carried easily, but large enough to be usable. If you can stretch the device, that problem is solved.
Big... Bigger... Biggest... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-03 10:22 · Score: 0

There's a breast enhancement application in there somewhere...
SkyNet now has legs ! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-04 15:39 · Score: 0

.. and it begins .. the start of the terminator ! .. .. governator help us !