Scientists Invent Electronics That Dissolve In the Body

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Scientists Invent Electronics That Dissolve In the Body

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday September 27, 2012 @11:20AM from the going-going-gone dept.

An anonymous reader writes in with a story about some new electronics that are designed to melt in your body not in your hand. "Scientists have created ultra-thin electronic devices that can 'melt away' in the body once their job is done. A new study published in the journal Science, details how scientists have created a tiny, fully functional electronic device capable of vanishing within their environment, like in the body or in water, once they are no longer needed or useful. There are already implants that dispense drugs or provide electrical stimulation but they do not dissolve. The latest creation is an early step in a technology that may benefit not only medicine, like enabling the development of medical implants that don't need to be surgically removed or the risk of long-term side effects, but also electronic waste disposal."

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Medical applications? Nope. by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2012-09-27 11:25 · Score: 4, Insightful

I predict the first practical use of these devices will be for surveillance.

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#DeleteChrome
1. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by JustOK · 2012-09-27 11:33 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  I predict it's been done already.
  
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  rewriting history since 2109
2. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-27 11:34 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  A device that delivers drugs and then melts away to leave no evidence?
  The second practical use will certainly be assassination.
3. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-27 11:35 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, but only by aliens, not government organisations.
4. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by one+eyed+kangaroo · 2012-09-27 11:40 · Score: 1, Interesting
  
  I predict that the *same* dissolvable device that retails for $1200 in the US will retail for a tenth of that in Canada, Europe, Australia, etc.
5. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by Foxhoundz · 2012-09-27 11:42 · Score: 2
  
  Don't mind the miserable pessimists here on Slashdot. I think the medicinal breakthroughs will have more of an impact on humanity than all of the shady applications for this innovation combined.
6. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by Ferzerp · 2012-09-27 11:56 · Score: 1
  
  You mean like a gel-cap? :P
7. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-27 12:31 · Score: 1
  
  Actually, that's partially canceled out -- it's an electronic device, so instead of $120, it'll be priced at 120EUR.
8. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by artor3 · 2012-09-27 12:47 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Oh Slashdot, news for luddites, as always. Just once I'd like to see a story about a new technology in which there isn't an immediate upmodded post about how it's so scary and awful.
  Tell me, how does the dissolvability of this new tech make it ideal for surveillance? Are you one of those tin foil nutcases who thinks the US is implanting tracking devices in people? If so, why do they want those devices (which are already so well hidden that they've never been found) to dissolve? If not, how exactly are they going to surreptitiously get these scary tracking devices into people?
9. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by viperidaenz · 2012-09-27 12:59 · Score: 0, Offtopic
  
  Or instead of $US0.99 it'll be $AU1.29, despite the AU dollar being worth more than the US dollar.
10. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-27 13:08 · Score: 0
  
  It's not just Slashdot, man. It's science fiction in general. Watch a horror movie once in a while.
  It's not just us. This is one of the few websites though, that has mastered the ability to retain a sardonic, but technically skilled audience, while preventing it from descending into darker or uglier/childish territory (the "childish" part may be arguable, but compare /. to some of the true failures out there and get back to me). Keeping the respect of intelligent people, while making enough money to keep your head above water is no easy task. There really aren't very many websites that can claim the same, which is why Slashdot has persisted and gotten pretty big over the years.
11. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-27 13:16 · Score: 0
  
  One thing I don't understand, though, is why these people don't simply support the technology but discourage abuses of it? I mean, government surveillance is evil, but I think it would be absolutely stupid to ban/discourage the technology just because it could be abused. Just keep your government under control!
12. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by c0lo · 2012-09-27 13:29 · Score: 1
  
  I predict the first practical use of these devices will be for surveillance.
  Until they become cheap enough... then you can swallow something like a dozen of Tor bridges/exist points at your breakfast to keep you connected for the day.
  
  --
  Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
13. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by NotQuiteReal · 2012-09-27 13:30 · Score: 1
  
  The AUD/USD parity is only in the last year or so (and just wait, I am sure the USD will get cheaper later...) However, that is not the whole story. I don't know if it is the case in AU -- but I know it is for many items in places like Canada... sometimes those price differences have to do with tariffs and such, so you might check if your government is pocketing the difference in MSRP.
  
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  This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
14. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by mars64 · 2012-09-27 14:14 · Score: 1
  
  Neal Stephenson predicts ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diamond_Age
15. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by jmerlin · 2012-09-27 14:44 · Score: 1
  
  Well electronics tend to show up in medical scans. If a device dissolves, however, and is then excreted, it doesn't. Just a thought.
16. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by davester666 · 2012-09-27 18:41 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, I was just reading an article about some people who were caught smuggling cheese from the US to Canada, because Milk Boards in Canada keep prices high to make sure milk processors can get all the profit for milk while ensuring actual milk producers still can barely make a living.
  
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  Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
17. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by phantomfive · 2012-09-27 18:59 · Score: 1
  
  Whatever, you doubter. They're going to embed it in tinfoil, so it disolves through our skin when we put it on our heads. Duh.
  
  We need open source tin mines!! Of course if the government weren't stopping us we'd already have flying cars.
  
  --
  "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
18. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by lightknight · 2012-09-27 19:01 · Score: 1
  
  I find it surprising how easily 'teh evil' manages to acquire funding in this world. You'd think it'd be easier to fund a charity that gives food to blind orphans in some remote country than it is to put together a tiny empire hell-bent on rendering a fair portion of the world uninhabitable, but you might be wrong. It's...well, it's almost embarrassing.
  
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  I am John Hurt.
19. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by lightknight · 2012-09-27 19:04 · Score: 1
  
  Why assassinate when a subcutaneous speaker and some mind-enhancing drugs can make someone your willing pawn?
  They'll even believe they're doing your bidding of their own free will...
  
  --
  I am John Hurt.
20. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by wonkey_monkey · 2012-09-27 19:13 · Score: 1
  
  I predict it's been done already.
  Then how can you predict it?
  
  --
  systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
21. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-27 21:28 · Score: 0
  
  Not to mention built in obsolescence for all devices. Your TV/Computer/Fridge etc. will now last for 2 years after which it will dissolve forcing you to buy a new one.
22. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by JustOK · 2012-09-27 22:49 · Score: 1
  
  it's timey-wimey stuff.
  
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  rewriting history since 2109
23. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by KramberryKoncerto · 2012-09-28 01:13 · Score: 1
  
  Tell me, how does the dissolvability of this new tech make it ideal for surveillance?
  Clearing evidence of surveillance? For sidestepping the need for warrants.
24. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by Metabolife · 2012-09-28 01:45 · Score: 1
  
  This will be even more effective because it can gradually bring someone to the verge of death, then disappear weeks before they die.
25. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-28 05:09 · Score: 0
  
  Your lack of imagination is not a limitation for actual, practical, and previously developed uses for this type of device.
26. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by serutan · 2012-09-28 11:48 · Score: 1
  
  Exactly - don't poison your enemy, spy on his colon!
27. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-28 17:24 · Score: 0
  
  Why use drugs and high tech then you can threaten them with an accusation of CP or sexual aggression?
28. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by viperidaenz · 2012-09-28 21:26 · Score: 1
  
  AU charge 10% tax on most items.
29. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-29 18:33 · Score: 0
  
  Only works on 4chan. Cuz 1/2 of the tards would be guilty as charged...
30. Re:Medical applications? Nope. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-29 18:42 · Score: 0
  
  But nanotechnology inside the tinfoil's packaging will tunnel into our bodies unbeknownst to us while we are checking to make sure the tinfoil is safe. :)
  Full surveillance will take place in the year 201984! bwahaha.
We are the Borg by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-27 11:33 · Score: 0

You will be assimilated
I predict... the iGimme! by swschrad · 2012-09-27 11:40 · Score: 1

who needs to push for obsolescence, for prettier casing, for newer features and faster operation. with the iGimme! the market is endless! just as you're listening to your favorite song, glub, and the device is gone! the repeat sales will be ginormous! order now, and we will send TWO iGimme!s for the price of one, plus shipping and handling... .

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if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
Recreational use possibilities? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-27 11:45 · Score: 0

Awesome! Just think of the possibilities if you could infuse these devices with recreational drugs like THC, Ecstasy, mushrooms...
Probably not detectable by drug dogs either...
also electronic waste disposal by jamesh · 2012-09-27 11:47 · Score: 1

also electronic waste disposal.
So if I upgrade my computer I just eat the old one?
1. Re:also electronic waste disposal by Samantha+Wright · 2012-09-27 11:58 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  I was thinking the same thing. Even with medical implants, electronic waste disposal is a problem because of the materials used, not the fact that they need to be removed. Even a more literal reading of TFS implies that our bodies will just absorb mercury, gold, silicon, lead, and so on from these new implants. (Awkward.)
  
  --
  Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
2. Re:also electronic waste disposal by teknx · 2012-09-27 12:47 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Dude, if your not going to eat those expired chrome cookies, can I have them?
3. Re:also electronic waste disposal by artor3 · 2012-09-27 12:52 · Score: 1
  
  Presumably the new implants wouldn't be made of lead and mercury and such. According to the fine article, they contain silicon, magnesium, and oxygen, all of which are naturally found in the body and play a positive role. Silicon is the only questionable one, since the human body normally only has around a gram of the stuff, but if the circuits are sufficiently tiny, they won't make much difference.
4. Re:also electronic waste disposal by sgt+scrub · 2012-09-27 15:10 · Score: 1
  
  How do you know they are not fattening?
  
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  Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
5. Re:also electronic waste disposal by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-28 02:40 · Score: 0
  
  wow. Or you could ACTUALLY READ the article to determine the composition of the electronics used. Yes, they researchers working on this problem are actually that stupid to use toxic material. Re: silicon, the semi-conductor portion of the implants uses ultra-thin applications that actually DISSOLVE in bio fluids.
  Why has this site suddenly become dumb?
  On a tangent, I've seen more rage replies in the last week than in any other time. Profanity and vitriol have their place, but a significant percentage of the site's membership is actually smart. Therefore, they tend to not use gratuitous profanity or and it seems they value cerebral discourse over emotional arguments.
6. Re:also electronic waste disposal by Samantha+Wright · 2012-09-28 03:08 · Score: 1
  
  Silly. I was talking about the summary and the summary only. Obviously they're not actually constructed that way. Keep working on those reading comprehension skills!
  
  --
  Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
Toxic by MightyYar · 2012-09-27 11:50 · Score: 1

Scientists Invent Electronics That Dissolve In the Body... ...and then kill you.

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W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Okay... now why did my brain.... by mark-t · 2012-09-27 11:52 · Score: 1

... go to the scene in "My Stepmother is an Alien" where she's eating batteries like candy?

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File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Impossible, I say by Tablizer · 2012-09-27 11:55 · Score: 4, Funny

That's hogwash! I depend on a little device in my heart to keep me alive. They would never make it just dissol^ `~ & # [NO CARRIER]

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Table-ized A.I.
1. Re:Impossible, I say by Ginger+Unicorn · 2012-09-27 23:09 · Score: 1
  
  Why would your heart giving out cause your modem to hang up?
  
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  (1.21 gigawatts) / (88 miles per hour) = 30 757 874 newtons
2. Re:Impossible, I say by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-28 12:56 · Score: 0
  
  Because he has probably never used a modem and doesn't actually understand the reference he used.
3. Re:Impossible, I say by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-29 16:58 · Score: 0
  
  It's a joke; relax. You are acting like a bunch of geeks......oh, wait
tasty by confused+one · 2012-09-27 12:03 · Score: 2

que Homer voice:
Mmmmmmm. Electronics.
1. Re:tasty by kova.lee · 2012-09-27 12:07 · Score: 1
  
  Now available at McDonalds: the McTransistor! Gives a whole new meaning to term "artificial flavor."
Perfect assassins. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-27 12:08 · Score: 1

Really? No one is thinking the obvious here? Perfect assassins. Cause an aneurysm or worse and disappear.
1. Re:Perfect assassins. by crossmr · 2012-09-27 13:58 · Score: 1
  
  There are already drugs which leave the body extremely quickly and leave no trace.
2. Re:Perfect assassins. by pokoteng · 2012-09-27 15:28 · Score: 1
  
  But now we can have it inside the person for months/years, and just wait for the perfect moment for the poison to be released. Might even have people go through mandated health care including vaccination, and anyone who steps out of line is just quietly killed off.
  
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  the game
I guess that's one way... by Type44Q · 2012-09-27 12:23 · Score: 1

...but also electronic waste disposal."
I guess that's one way of getting rid of old electronics... :p
I see a problem by viperidaenz · 2012-09-27 13:03 · Score: 2

When part of the device dissolves before the rest of it, will it malfunction? Especially if its one of these devices that provide electrical stimulation.
it'll be a bitch to swallow that hard drive by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-27 13:16 · Score: 0

...when the feds barges through my windows and door but as long as it's doable.
Your Insurance Agent: by mbstone · 2012-09-27 14:03 · Score: 1

Unfortunately, while you're covered for the equipment rental, you failed to return the unit as agreed, and we'll have to bill you $32,768.
In Soviet Russia by Roachie · 2012-09-27 14:43 · Score: 1

... electronics melt YOU!

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This sig is not paradoxical or ironic.
Interactive food! Yummy! by Maintenance+Goof · 2012-09-27 14:52 · Score: 1

Remember when your Mom used to tell you not to talk to your food? That day is over! The best thing since toast is talking toast! Kids, tell Mom to get you some breakfast boats, the only cereal that putters around the bowl! (This product contains compounds that the state of California has determined may cause open weeping sores.)
Electronics disolved by the body by rossdee · 2012-09-27 15:04 · Score: 3, Funny

Toddlers have been doing this for decades
This is a nightmare for testing by muhula · 2012-09-27 15:21 · Score: 1

Dissolving electronics will have unpredictable, and non-reproducible failure conditions. Can you imagine designing a medical device in such a way that any random part of your circuit could be randomly destroyed and yet fail in a graceful manner? It seems there's enough difficulty as it is with non-dissolving electronics.
precedent by slashmydots · 2012-09-27 16:09 · Score: 3, Funny

There's that one guy in India or whatever that ate an entire airplane over like 30 years or something so "invent" might be a little much, lol.
"Honey, did you take my dick?" by Tablizer · 2012-09-27 17:15 · Score: 0

I had one a second ago

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Table-ized A.I.
Cool, but I'm still using leaded solder for this! by Kaz+Kylheku · 2012-09-27 19:06 · Score: 1

"Out of my cold, lead hands ..." :)
Next logical step by mapkinase · 2012-09-27 23:45 · Score: 1

Electronics that dissolves in the body ... and keeps working in that state. Try to remove the RFID tag put on you by Big Brother now, champ.

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I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
I thought the headline said it dissolves bodies by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-28 01:53 · Score: 0

I thought it was some new electronic device that dissolves bodies much like a Star Trek Phaser can dissolve a body. Nevermind.
It's much more sinister by ZeroMS · 2012-09-29 12:07 · Score: 1

Other posters are thinking it might be used for assassination. It's much MUCH more subtle than that. If I were a pharmaceutical, I'd create epidemics. New diseases even. That would reap in billions.
it's tapeworms all the way down... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-30 10:22 · Score: 0

What's next, nano-tapeworms for spies which contain a time released or specific in the future timed event release of something bad? For remote tracking? To drive someone insane by using voice to skull from within the body?
should my wife be concerned when she finds me running a freq sweep over my urine and feces in a bucket?