Electronic Circuits Rewire Themselves on Demand, Depending On What They're Needed For
Static Circuitry Northwestern researchers are developing circuit technology that can rewire itself on demand. johnmuk via Flickr Northwestern University researchers--the same ones that brought us self-erasing documents a couple of years ago--are envisioning a day when computers and other gadgets can rewire themselves automatically to better suit the user's needs at a given moment. As a step in that direction, they have today published a paper in Nature Nanotechnology describing tiny circuits they've created from nano-scale materials that can be resistors, diodes, transistors, or other components depending on what the computer needs them to be at a given time. Basically, they've created circuitry that can rewire itself in the lab. Harnessed for consumer electronics, this technology could enable a new breed of computers that are always optimized for the task at hand. The nanoparticle-based electronics work by basically creating new and fluid ways of steering the flow of electrons through a material. Rather...