printable batteries.

August 2, 2001 4:41 PM

printable batteries. a company in israel has produced a battery so thin, it can be printed on paper. think of the possibilities... look carefully at your next contract — make sure they can't rearrange the letters after you sign it! on another note, has anyone else noticed how many cool inventions are coming out of israel? via biz stone, genius.
posted by o2b (19 comments total)

cool, they'll go along well with the printable computer :)

yeah i noticed that, too! medis is an israeli company that seems like they're putting out a lot of nice stuff. i read about them somewhere recently.
posted by kliuless at 5:54 PM on August 2, 2001

"an undisclosed chemical mixture of chemicals" what if it ruptures, what if is swallowed. can i roll a fat tater in it. (this could help the key-card by-pass equipment people. no more bulky pacthcord and battery unit.) i know some scientists here will gives us some stats on 20 milliamp at 1.5v per centimeter(which seems mighty small compared to a flash light bulb(.47v?)
posted by clavdivs at 5:54 PM on August 2, 2001

Neato.

Israel has been touted as the next Silicon Valley for a few years now, I'm not surprised to see cool stuff from that corner of the world.
posted by dong_resin at 6:05 PM on August 2, 2001

"In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."
-Orson Welles from "The Third Man"

I thought it was an interesting parallel to the Israeli technological boom.
posted by Grum at 6:37 PM on August 2, 2001

my favorite is the Israeli thing, illegal here but can be bought, that zapps cell phones and puts them out of commission...and, according to reports, they are selling like hotcakes.
posted by Postroad at 7:01 PM on August 2, 2001

the cellular firewall technology is illegal here but is being marketed to airlines, theaters, restaurants, hotel conferences, offices, and every place else ringing and talking in public is annoying or insecure... last i heard, they were considering challenging the fcc in court... when i first heard about this i was hoping for a personal version creating a radius around you where phones are quiet, birds are chirping, and peace and goodwill abounds...

this technology, like much of that coming out of israel for many years now, originated in israeli army research. they are known for high level cutting edge developments and many alumni of their elite tech programs take their knowledge to the private sector. the other major influence is technion, Israel's Institute of Technology.
posted by adamholz at 7:22 PM on August 2, 2001

It's to be expected from a nation permanently at war with everyone.
posted by lagado at 7:53 PM on August 2, 2001

That was odd. I would have said that Israel isn't really at war with anyone. Unless you mean it in a "War On Drugs" sort of way...
posted by Ptrin at 8:04 PM on August 2, 2001

Gee, what do you call lobbing rockets and bullets at another group of people? Personally, I call it war...

Anyway. Politics aside... You know, this would go well with the digital ink that Phillips is producing.
posted by SpecialK at 8:23 PM on August 2, 2001

has anyone else noticed how many cool inventions are coming out of israel?

One of the Israeli best: ICQ (the technology of which was sold to AOL, I believe, for zillions, with the proviso that ICQ remain forever free for the rest of us. Wasn't the ICQ technology the basis of AOL's vaunted instant messaging service?
posted by caraig at 9:26 PM on August 2, 2001

didn't IRC come out of israel?
posted by lotsofno at 10:45 PM on August 2, 2001

they are known for high level cutting edge developments and many alumni of their elite tech programs take their knowledge to the private sector.

True. And not just the knowledge — the patents, too. Unlike many countries, Israel allows many of its military researchers to retain legal control of their inventions once they leave the army.

To balance this, there have been complaints for a long time in Israel that too much bureaucratic red tape chokes new businesses, which many feel is one of the major reasons the Israeli tech sector hasn't broken out internationally as big as it could.
posted by bilco at 4:13 AM on August 3, 2001

"didn't IRC come out of israel?"

I believe IRC originated (or atleast started off in popularity) during the Gulf War to help those in the U.S. keep informed. Unfortunately, IM's have been around ever since AOL started it's chat services....back then, it was more like those annoying pop-ups :)
posted by samsara at 5:58 AM on August 3, 2001

IRC was invented by WiZ Oikarinen (in Finland), in August 1988, if my memory serves me correctly.
posted by Jairus at 6:09 AM on August 3, 2001

Interesting story: I was once on an airplane chatting with my neighbor. It came out that he was from Israel, and I proceeded to ask him what he did. He says, "I work in the High Tech industry." My other neighbor (who didn't appear all that bright to begin with) chimes in: "oh yeah, we sell those in my shoe store," i.e. Hi-Tec the boot brand. It was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud.
The Israeli fellow, from whom I got the impression that he didn't know what on earth this other guy was talking about, handled it rather graciously: "oh that's interesting, however my division has little to do with shoes."
posted by OneBallJay at 8:36 AM on August 3, 2001

IRC is pretty old, like decades old...I think lotsofno meant ICQ.
posted by briank at 8:42 AM on August 3, 2001

A little background on IRC. Now if only we could combine the two technologies...
posted by samsara at 12:32 PM on August 3, 2001

Hotcake sales are overrated.
posted by gleemax at 3:32 PM on August 3, 2001

SpecialK. I have an Israel filter installed on my Mefi account. Nonetheless, I must say: very lame remark.
posted by ParisParamus at 3:47 PM on August 3, 2001