High-energy laser light detects illegal ivory products.
Criminals, meanwhile, devote their energy to falsifying valuable objects such as passports. Now, a research team in China hopes to give would-be fraudsters the run around with its new hydrogel.
The material is made by mixing a conductive polymer with a flexible polymer; after briefly applying an electric field, the electrically charged gel ingredients move into an unpredictable position.
There are 1 quintillion possibilities. This creates an incalculable conductive labyrinth which is fixed into its one-of-a-kind structure when the gel hardens.
If an electric signal is sent into the material, then, following the maze within, it also emerges as something completely unique. An encrypted protective layer that is safe even from AI.
