Traditional copper antennas are rigid yet delicate. And in the age when almost every gadget we use requires some sort of antenna, they’re a lousy solution. Luckily, new tech is on its way.
Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed an alloy antenna that can be bent a la pretzel before resuming its native shape. The feat is accomplished through the micro liquid metal chambers that form as the building blocks of the antenna, allowing the device to so receive RF like metal, but maintain flexibility, like liquid.
Of course, as with any promising technology, the military is slated to get it first. And after hundreds of thousands of our service men and women develop strange, liquid-metal-related tumors, the public will get to buy an ever so safer 2.0 version. [Gadget Lab]
