Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Pen of Power

I saw a fascinating video on a pen that writes with electrical ink.  The pen was created by researchers at the University of Illinois.  It writes with silver ink that drys to form conductive "wires" that can be hooked up to a battery.  Because the drawn circuits are both quick to create and flexible, the technology could be very useful for electrical engineers.

In an article about the pen, I read that it was used to make a copy of a Chinese panting called Sae-Han-Do. The ink provided power for LEDs placed in the panting.  I thought that the ability to create "lit-up" drawings could be very powerful if used well.  For example, someone could draw a Statue of Liberty where the torch actually burns with light.  It would be fun to create drawings like these.  I wonder if the pens will be available commercially.

2 comments:

  1. So how did you find the video? Did you do a search after coming up with the idea?

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    1. I found it on a physics website while looking for something unrelated. I wish I had invented it myself.

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