BIO-IMAGINATIVE BOOK COVER MATERIAL
James Estrin/The New York Times. Manduca sexta and its silicone rubber analog.
I’ve been reading a lot about a form of paper grown in a vat, called microbial cellulose, that can be a foundation for electronic components. Sony, for instance, makes cardboard speakers (that are of a high fidelity) of microbial cellulose.
Cellulose (in the form of printed paper) has always been the prime medium for displaying information in our society and is far better than the various existing display technologies. This is because of its high reflectivity, contrast, low cost and flexibility. There is a major initiative to push for a dynamic display technology that emulates paper (popularly known as “electronic paper”). We have successfully demonstrated the proof of the concept of developing a dynamic display on cellulose. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first significant effort to achieve an electronic display using bacterial cellulose. First, bacterial cellulose is synthesized in a culture of Acetobacter xylinum in standard glucose-rich medium. The bacterial cellulose membrane thus formed (not pulp) is dimensionally stable, has a paper-like appearance and has a unique microfibrillar nanostructure.
Jay Shah & R. Malcolm Brown Jr. Towards electronic paper displays made from microbial cellulose.
Through this evening’s tide of faces unregistered, unrecognised, amid hurrying black shoes, furled umbrellas, the crowd descending like a single organism into the station’s airless heart, comes Shinya Yamazaki, his notebook clasped beneath his arm like the egg case of some modest but moderately successful marine species. Evolved to cope with jostling elbows, oversized Ginza shopping bags, ruthless briefcases, Yamazaki and his small burden of information go down into the neon depths.
All Tomorrow’s Parties by William Gibson (1999)
I imagine the cover of Yamazaki’s notebook being made of something like microbial cellulose, and like the “dragon skin” on this robot.
The skin is a silicone rubber that goes by the brand name Dragon Skin, and its composition can be manipulated so that it can be leathery-tough or so supple and clammy that it gives a sense of what it must be like to shake hands with Gollum. Eventually, the researchers hope to build on the work of David Kaplan, a Tufts professor of biomedical engineering who has pioneered the creation of tough, flexible materials based on spider silk so that the creatures would be largely biodegradable.
John Schwartz. The New York Times. 27.3.2007
