A "junk" piece of silicon at Bell Labs led to the p-n junction, the transistor, and the trick this newsletter is named after
Nice backstory about the discovery of impurities improving the electrical properties of silicon, reminds me of
(1) this paper about adding guano to graphene https://pubs.acs.org/ancac3/article-abstract/14/1/21/602927/Will-Any-Crap-We-Put-into-Graphene-Increase-Its?redirectedFrom=fulltext
(2) adding chicken feathers to concrete to improve strength https://link.springer.com/article/10.1557/s43580-025-01475-6
amazing 😂
Nice backstory about the discovery of impurities improving the electrical properties of silicon, reminds me of
(1) this paper about adding guano to graphene https://pubs.acs.org/ancac3/article-abstract/14/1/21/602927/Will-Any-Crap-We-Put-into-Graphene-Increase-Its?redirectedFrom=fulltext
(2) adding chicken feathers to concrete to improve strength https://link.springer.com/article/10.1557/s43580-025-01475-6
amazing 😂