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Xerox PARC Creates Self-Destructing Chip
angry tapir writes: Engineers at Xerox PARC have developed a chip that will self-destruct upon command, providing a potentially revolutionary tool for high-security applications. The chip, developed as part of DARPA's vanishing programmable resources project, could be used to store data such as encryption keys and, on command, shatter into thousands of pieces so small, reconstruction is impossible.
Incidentally, if you want to play with some, they can be made at home more easily than one would expect: Getting a nice big one, as in the video you link to, and getting reliable results, is tricky without a proper glassworking apparatus; but you can make small ones with a basic hardware store blowtorch and some cheap 'lampworking' glass rods(not borosilicate, that has a higher melting point and deals with thermal stress better, typically a virtue but not for this application); I don't have a specific recommended vendor but 'lampwork rod' should bring up numerous options.
You pretty much just blowtorch the end of the rod until it melts and drips into a bucket of water. In my tests, either my technique or my materials sucked enough that I couldn't get above ~10% success rate; but a pound or so of lampwork rod is cheap, so it didn't matter too much. And it is weird to interact with a piece of glass that you can't break with a sledgehammer; but which tears itself apart in the blink of an eye if you snip its tail. Wear your damn safety goggles; but good clean fun.