Transparent, Electroconductive Cement Invented

I'm not sure that the Tokyo Institute of Technology's electrically conductive, transparent cement is a good idea. Offering a conductivity in the same ballpark as manganese and a translucency apt for video displays, it combines two recent innovations to create something that could make for amazing public artwork and advertising. Buildings themselves could begome beautiful (or, more likely, garish), glowing monuments to post-modernity.

"Ordinary alumina cement made from a lime-alumina compound (C12A7) has a crystal structure consisting of asymmetric cages, making it a poor conductor of electricity. But by sealing the alumina cement compound along with titanium inside a glass tube and heating it to 1,100 degrees Celsius, the researchers were able to create a homogenized, symmetrical cage structure that conducts electricity like metal."

However, I'm thinking that somehow, somewhere, this will be used to kill chickens. Maybe it's just me. Scotty, at least, would be proud.

Nikkei Net, Mainichi, SPring-8 press release [via Pink Tentacle]