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The other possible suggestions made by various researchers are to use these microwires for various applications including use in transistors, environmental monitoring devices and integrated circuits. Researchers were able to produce microwires in the range of 10-20 by heating and intentionally contaminating silicon wafer with copper in the atmosphere of silicon tetrachloride gas. In this way, researchers were also able to control the spacing and are hopeful that the process can easily be scaled up for full commercial production.

For all these applications, the same challenges requiring solutions arise. To begin with, rising raw material prices have been triggering a strong trend towards cutting down the material input as far as possible throughout the entire manufacturing process. In addition, with space being a restriction, the allowable amount and volume of conductors to be incorporated in any of the above devices is limited. At the same time, the processes, which are controlled by means of electric signals, are growing more and more diverse so that an increasing number of functions has to be taken care of by each conductor. In particular when it comes to building automobiles, aircraft or aerospace vehicles, exceptional weight efficiency is requested nowadays in order to minimize fuel consumption. The flexibility of a strand constitutes another property that can only be accomplished by increasing the number of single wires used. Just take the following example: A strand composed of 19 wires with a diameter of 0.20 mm each will end up having the same cross-section (0.6 mm²) as another strand made up of 850 wires with a diameter of 0.03 mm each, with the flexibility of the latter being significantly higher.

It is an immense flow of energy – and one that currently goes to waste. But need it? Not if a bright idea from a group of researchers at Harvard University works out. They think we can use some of this heat radiation as it passes out into space to generate electricity.

The Kingdom of Tonga this month became the first country in the world to put in place a law that manages seabed mineral activities within its national marine space and under its sponsorship in international waters.