A new breakthrough in materials science may pave the way for those inevitable swarms of tiny flying robots that will one day darken the skies and strike fear into us all, as researchers in South Korea have succeeded in coaxing specially-prepared cellophane paper to rapidly curve and straighten itself in an insect-like flapping motion. Although scientists have apparently known since the 1950's that wood was piezoelectric, meaning that it bends slightly when exposed to electricity, it took a team from Inha University with help from Texas A&M to discover that the same property also holds true for other cellulose-based material. By coating both sides of a sheet of cellophane with thin layers of gold, the researchers were able to create so-called Electroactive paper (EAPap) so sensitive that the voltage from a microwave beam provides enough power to trigger its unique shape-changing abilities. Oddly enough, no one is quite sure of the physics behind the transformation -- theories center around pressure changes resulting from the movement of ions -- but regardless of how it works, we're sure that more than a few governments will be most interested in deploying this technology to beef up their domestic and international surveillance programs.
[Via
Roland Piquepaille and
ScienceNOW]
posted July 2nd 2006 8:57PM
"we're sure that more than a few governments will be most interested in deploying this technology to beef up their domestic and international surveillance programs."
Not to mention Bruce Wayne...
man thats cool
the self building origami is here
>> formatc.co.nr
Consipiracy Theorists..... go!
I, for one, welcome our new shape-shifting robo-paper overlords.
Happy Day! Yet another invention that would have practical, non-military application being scoped out by big brother. What a wonderful turn of events for us all.
Wow! Scientists have rediscovered Nitinol.
Those robot overlord jokes are not just old, they are also irritating and annoying.
I have to admit, I never post them (robot overlord posts that is) but I do get a chuckle.
This sort of stuff will go a long way in making sci-fi, science.
just what i need a tiny fly-bot watching me.
Hooray
Batman Begins???
hm...this sounds just like the memory cloth from batman begins! (what the posters above were referring to). Thats pretty darn cool! would be even better if this brought about a real batman!
woot woot
lol
=D
These are made from cellophane. Sandwiches around the world have no fucking chance anymore.
Well I already got this EMP gun, now I add a microwave ray gun to my arsenal. hmm, maybe I can intergrate both into one anti-robot weapon...
aww c'mon Jammin Blue, d'you really get annoyed by the old "welcoming the overlords" gag...? Really?? 'cuz you gotta lighten up...
I, for one, welcome "robot overlord" jokes. The only reason I don't post them more often is that I'm usually beaten to it.
You guys missed the best part:
"By coating both sides of a sheet of cellophane with thin layers of gold"
GOLD!. Hmmm... now I envision people chasing these flying robot mosquitoes with giant fishing nets...
:-)
I've been coming to Engadget for about a month now, multiples times a day, for the best sci-news/commentary around. Whenever I read the "welcome the over-lords",,,it gets me throught he day.
^ Me too, I love it. It's the main reason I come here. I love our robot friends.
no more paper airplanes
now its time for real flying paper birds!
Add this technology to a book, so the pages can turn themselves, and I can go FWD and BACK with a remote... THEN maybe I'll read the classics.
Kelvin: If you were far enough away to need a remote to flip the pages, you wouldn't be able to make out the words anyway. Get an e-ink ebook reader! :) Where self-page-turning books might be useful is in a museum, where certain books might be under protective glass or something. Or wait...if a book is so delicate it can't be touched, you probably shouldn't go cyborging it. Damn, oh well. ^_^
Get back to me when they actually get something to fly.
Flight is more complicated than just flapping some wing-shaped membranes.