The Coolest Science of 2013, in GIFs

Smithsonian Magazine (Dec. 24) -- Over the past few years, the U. of I. lab led by materials science and engineering professor John Rogers has engineered all sorts of amazing devices that bridge the gap between biology and technology: stretchable batteries that could be used in wearable gadgets or medical implants, tiny LEDs that can be implanted in the brain to manipulate individual neurons and ultrathin electronics that can graft circuits onto human skin. Perhaps the most amazing creation, though, is their entirely dissolvable electronic circuit, which could someday be used in environmental monitoring and medical devices so that circuitry disappears after it’s no longer needed. Smithsonian ranks it tops among “the coolest science of 2013, in GIFs.”