Work at Bell Labs has also shown that, besides printing and spraying, flexible circuits can be stamped continuously on to rolls of plastic.

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Now, John Rogers of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, who is one of the pioneers of flexible electronics, has devised a new technique to create ultra-thin and flexible circuits suitable for medical use.

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In addition to making possible improved artificial muscles, this material could be used to make flexible electronic circuits, antennae or mirrors.

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The goal is to use flexible plastic circuits to recreate all the basic functions of the human body, from digestion to breathing and everything in between.

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Flexible electronics will allow circuits, displays and solar captors to be integrated anywhere in the battle suit, including in the soldier's mask, as a transparent display.

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Making flexible circuitry is difficult because logic circuits are traditionally made of transistors etched into a crystalline silicon wafer, which is rigid.

ECONOMIST: Just press print