Communication through chemistry: 'Fuses' convey information for hours
Thursday, June 17, 2010 - 07:00
in Physics & Chemistry
(PhysOrg.com) -- We currently transmit information electronically; in the future we will most likely use photons. However, these are not the only alternatives. Information can also be transmitted by means of chemical reactions. George M. Whitesides and his colleagues at Harvard University in Cambridge have now developed a concept that allows transmission of alphanumeric information in the form of light pulses with no electricity: the `infofuse`. As the researchers report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, it may be possible to use this principle to develop systems that function under conditions in which electronics or batteries do not work.