Check out that piece of cellophane-like material: it's actually filled with transparent circuits, using carbon nanotube transistors. Scientists have been fabricating transparent circuits for years, but now they're getting way closer to commercial viability.
Researchers at the University of Southern California say, in a new paper, that they've succeeded in fabricating transparent thin-film transistors (TTFTs) at low temperatures, by using carbon nanotubes. Colder fabrication means it's cheaper to make them, and it also raises the "device mobility," which enables fast operation and lowers power consumption. It also allows you to put the TTFTs into more flexible substances, as opposed to just panes of glass.
In other words, low-temperature fabrication and high mobility is the key to dream applications, like "e-paper, wearable display, smart tag, and artificial skin (E-skin)." I totally want my skin to have tattoos that change color or shape depending on my mood or level of drunkenness. Can we have that by next week, please? [ACS Nano via Nanowerk]