The electronics that the world enjoys and has access to today are beyond impressive. They are often powerful and more than capable of fulfilling our every expectation and need. However, the future of electronics could be even more impressive thanks to the research that scientists and engineers are undertaking right now.
Their experiments are focusing on molecular technology that could impact the way that new electronics are designed and used in the near and not so near future. The basis of some of their work remarkably involves watching a pan of water boil.
The Promise of a Watched Pot
The old adage says that a watched pot never boils. However, scientists have discovered that a pot of water delivers far beyond the promise of a boil. It contains the secret to the innovation needed to make new, improved, and mind-blowing electronic gadgets for tomorrow.
Scientists have long suspected that a pot of boiling water contains fields called nucleation centers that create the ideal environment for what is called phase transitions. In essence, the nucleation centers set the stage for the molecules in the water to start boiling first. The act of the water molecules starting to boil is called phase transition.
So how does boiling water apply to the electronics of tomorrow? The nucleation centers in the water show what kind of environment must be created in order for molecules to start gaining power and evolving into a type of energy that can be harnessed and used for the overall function of an electronic device. If engineers can replicate the nucleation centers in an electronic gadget, they could create a device that is far more powerful than the electronics that we use today.
For now, however, scientist must continue to watch the pot boil and hope that the bridge to the technology of tomorrow somehow rises from the bubbles from the edge of the water. They are hopeful that they can take that same energy and innovation and implement them into devices that could become the prototypes for electronic gadgets of the future.
An Early Glimpse into the Electronics of Tomorrow
Some of the electronics of tomorrow are already making their way into public awareness thanks to trade shows in locations like Los Angeles and Las Vegas. A recent show in Vegas invited the public to get an early bird’s view of earphones that could change the way that we listen to music or watch TV and videos. But wait! What is so remarkable about earphones of all things? How can technology make them any better than what they are now?
The promise of tomorrow’s technology aims to make headphones and earphones smarter so that they sense your hearing capabilities and adjust themselves to accommodate your preferred noise level. You would no longer have to fuss with your phone or mobile device while adjusting the audio level. The smart headphones would adjust themselves for you.
This same technology is lending itself to the future of driverless cars, smart car applications, and even Google glasses. The innovations that you now marvel at and increasingly use on a day-to-day basis in your life right now could become obsolete once the phase transition and nucleation center discoveries start making their way into the engineering of tomorrow’s electronic devices, games, toys, cars, and others.
Sometimes the most remarkable of technology starts by something as mundane as watching a pot of water come to a boil. However, the simplest of starts can end in the most impressive of finishes. Scientists have discovered energy in a pot of boiling water that could be recreated and used in the electronics of tomorrow.
Image source: here