This Tech Will Self-Destruct

The mission is electronic sustainability, and a team of researchers from University of Illinois seems to have successfully completed it. The researchers created a mechanism that breaks down the non-biodegradable parts of a mechanism down to its molecular elements. But could this research be applied in ways beyond simple e-waste reduction?

Kim Horcher and special guest Andy Riesmeyer (Host of Dweebcast) discuss the idea.

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KIM:

ANDY:

Nerd Alert: Bringing you tech news, gaming, geek culture and more every day of the week with host Kim Horcher and friends. Part of the TYT Network of shows.

[Doan]

"Whenever your iPhone is done, after 2 years..."

Yeah, that tells everything.
Their goal is not environmentalism at all.
Kim and Andy made good points. This will be used to rip off customers.

[keilaschloemp]

Why not donate some of these old (sometimes non working) appliances and electronics to film makers to be used as movie props? New ones wouldn't have to be created, and they can be more period authentic.

[boenrobot]

55 C (131 F), as seen in the video,  is too low of a temperature. Modern PC CPUs already work at near that temperature when you watch a video. And as mentioned, if you leave the device in direct sunlight for long enough on a very hot (40 C) day, it could also go around that temperature, if not over it. Even if you don't fully reach it, getting close to it is likely to create partial problems in the chip, leading to impossible to reliably diagnose hardware issues.

The melting temperature should be at around 200 C (392 F) - hot enough to be impossible to reach during normal operations, yet cold enough to be reachable without specialized expensive equipment (i.e. a normal stove is sufficient).

[creepyloner]

i'm sure there's some obscure use for this, but protecting the environment isn't it. any facility properly equipped to recycle electronics is going to have whatever acids they need. this technology is meant to break down electronics outside of such a facility, where there's a greater chance of environmental contamination.

[americanino]

This brings up a lot of thoughts and discussion.  Firstly, we do have a problem of disposal of electronic items as they almost exclusively are not biodegradable nor readily recyclable.  At the same time we are constantly told there is sensitive data inside them you might not even be aware of so we're afraid to dispose of them at all.  I've held on to computers for over 10 years because I just was afraid my information would get stolen.  I don't see this technology as being a solution but I'm open to people looking into it.

In regards to these examples of the chips melting at 55 celsius, wtf?  I live in the US so I had to look it up but that's 131 fahrenheit.  The inside of a computer will easily get hotter than that.  Not sure what their plan is with this product honestly.

[Adamantium]

At the _very least_ could we raise the temperature threshold to, like, 200C? I mean come on, the work these people did is the literal first step on the journey of a thousand miles.

[Tulipstarful]

Coming to a gaming console near you... the ability for the manufacturer to literally melt your hardware if you misbehave or speak badly about it or stop paying subscription fees, or don't shell out another $400.00 for the latest model.

[rorrt]

I have a feeling that these will be used as burner phones...
Literally! 

If these are ever brought to the market.

[DidntKnowWhatToPut]

One (major) problem with this...Soldering!

[ericcartmann]

now my phone can be >triggered are you serious?

[hoytarchery]

I'm yeah fuck this hackers will hack your shit and it will I haven't seen the full video yet so they might have said that already I hope.... if someone wanted to do that just melt it

[skaskater]

Forcing consumers to buy on a schedule or before schedule and covert ops

[nerdking]

Take your old stuff to any Best Buy, they will recycle it for free.

[TheSuperRunner]

Don't butt-dial the self destruct button

[uselesscretin]

Yeah, I don't see this becoming an issue. Kappa

[LouesSCat]

So we are back at the point of putting our secrets on rice paper sheet inside a scroll case which has a small vial of vinegar hidden in the cap so when opened wrong the vinegar is released dissolving the rice paper. Yup. Future of technology! Romans did it first.