It seems like every time we try to plug in a phone charger, the cable is just short enough that the phone can’t be comfortably used while it’s charging. On the other hand, earbud cables always seem to be ridiculously long. Researchers at North Carolina State University have come up with a totally brilliant (and quite futuristic) solution for too-short and too-long cables: cables that can stretch up to eight times their original length and then snap right back to their starting length.

The revolutionary cables are made up of two layers: a gallium/indium alloy in the middle and a stretchy elastic polymer on the outside. The interior alloy is a very efficient electrical conductor which happens to be a liquid at room temperature. It’s able to change shape and length without losing conductivity. The only puzzle still facing the researchers at this point is how to keep the liquid metal from causing a nasty and dangerous mess if the elastic cable exterior ever happens to break.

The post Pulling a Fast One: Stretchy Cables Filled With Liquid Metal first appeared on Gajitz.

Keeping cords and cables out of the way is one of those problems with a million solutions – but no one solution that works for everyone. Could this simple piece of plastic be that universal solution? The ISI Clip is little more than a flexible, folded little piece of plastic with a few slots in one end, but it solves one of the most irritating problems of the information age.

The ISI Clip fits over the edge of a desk or table, letting cords and cables slip easily into the slots on the end and keeping them organized. The concept is simple, sophisticated and utterly useful, making it one of the cleverest cord management solutions we’ve seen.

The post Simple Little Clamp Keeps Cords Organized + Out of the Way first appeared on Gajitz.