The concentration of metal as little as 2% by volume is low enough not to constrain the material's elasticity, but high enough to conduct electricity.

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The fabric Jonathan Engel and Chang Liu have produced has a similar strength to nylon and can conduct electricity thanks to the way it is formed by interlocking rings and rectangles of about 500 microns in width.

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In the days of copper-wire telephony, customers would be able to pick up the phone and make calls even if their power went out, because the copper would conduct electricity to power analog phones on the receiving end.

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The code of conduct requires tenants to pay rent on time, register for council tax, gas, electricity and water in their own names and not to cause excessive noise or anti-social behaviour.

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Only a few polymers, however, conduct electricity, and so the range of chemicals that can be detected is limited to those that will react with those polymers.

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