In the future, play-doh will be used to make electronics devices. That’s the message of “Squishy Circuits,” a project where students ran a motor and LEDs connected to a battery-powered roll of dough.
Engineering professor AnnMarie Thomas and her students at Minnesota’s University of St. Thomas came up with a recipe for a conductive dough, which routes power from a battery to various electrical devices like a small motor and LEDs. This is a proof-of-concept that demonstrates how malleable circuits can be. One day you could be powering your computer and desk lamp with a soft mound of dough. Sort of like a power strip that you can keep extending by remolding it to be as long as you like.
Find out more about Squishy Circuits in MAKE magazine.
