Back there again
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On the Pulse was having a relaxed pre-Budget evening earlier this week with the latest political percentages (who doesn’t these days), when it was struck with an eerie feeling of déjà vu that just refused to make an exit. Just lately, more than one federal government MP has said the polls always tighten the closer we get to an election, to account for a slide in support for Malcolm Turnbull, but that was not what caused the On the Pulse throw-back experience. Early this month, Labor support was at 51 per cent (down 1 per cent), which put them in front of the Coalition on 49 per cent (also down 1 per cent), and the best result for Labor since big Mal became Prime Minister, but not what caused the On the Pulse experience either. The figures predicted that a federal election held now would be too close to call and could result in a hung Parliament, and that’s what caused On the Pulse to start wondering, and then go into deep contemplation. What if?
Keep your shirt on
With further development, technology developers in the US could have shirts that act as antennas for your smart phone or tablet. Ye Gods, is nothing sacred to science? It wasn’t that long ago that On the Pulse was falling off the roof while trying to adjust the antennae to get a better picture.
It’s called wearable electronics, and they have apparently reached the milestone of being able to embroider circuits into fabric with 0.1mm precision. That’s apparently perfect to integrate electronic components into clothing called (wait for it) e-textiles. You can bet that will eventually be reduced to e-tiles.
One prototype antenna to improve cell phone signal reception is a six inch spiral, another circuit is an ‘O’ shape (with non-conductive scarlet and gray thread embroidered among the silver wires to show e-textiles can be decorative too). The broadband antenna (yes, no misprint, that’s broadband). It is more than half a dozen interlocking geometric shapes about the size of a fingernail, forming an intricate circle a few centimetres across.
This looks like something right out of a Jules Verne e-book to On the Pulse. Could be wrong, but it seems like a lot of GHz to be caught out in an electrical storm with, and no doubt any hazards associated with attracting electronic waves will also have been considered.