New Scientist has another neat blurb on some new research. It's the oh-so-popular "carbon nanotube" again. This time, some group has created a paint with carbon nanotubes in it and then pass a current through the "paint". Since the tubes conduct electricity, this produces heat. Not only that, it produces an even heat through the entire paint. And a thin layer of the paint is transparent. This paint would replace the heating wires in car windows while providing a cool-looking tint. A thicker layer (which would be opaque) could be used as in-floor (or in-wall, in ceiling in-whatever) heating. The great thing about it is that there are no wires to break so the conductivity is spread very evenly.
Think of the home reno with that: "new tile floor... uh, did you want in-floor heating? Okay, just gotta fetch the other bucket. " Or "Gonna seal that driveway for you... did you want it to be self-cleaning for ice and snow? Okay, let me get the other bucket." This is something that I can't recall very often from science-fiction - technology that is paint-on. I've seen an announcement of a paint-on solar panel, but it isn't commercialized yet. Same idea as this though - some new kind of nano-scale material that can be applied like a paint.
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