Scientists have created an ink that’s able to hiding an encryption key for decoding hidden secret messages.
The steganography method, developed on the University of Texas, was used to cover a key to unlock a textual content file of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz inside a 30-word letter.
A pattern of the ink, which comprises polymers that retailer the info, is all that was wanted to function the cipher to unlock the encrypted file.
“Because they’re a polymer with a very specific sequence, the units along that sequence can carry a sequence of information, just like any sentence carries information in the sequence of letters,” Eric Anslyn from the University of Texas informed the New Scientist.
“The information density is mind-boggling.”
Alan Woodward from the University of Surrey added: “The idea of writing a message but the real, hidden message is contained in the molecular structure of the ink is fascinating, although maybe not the most practical method.”
The researchers hope to proceed creating the method with a view to discover real-world purposes for the know-how, comparable to hiding secret messages in letters and plastic objects.
“This paradigm has significant potential for widely accessible molecular information storage and encryption,” concluded a paper detailing the achiement.
“Future iterations will look to robotically automate the writing and reading processes, furthering its accessibility and practicality for real-world applications.”
The paper, titled ‘Molecular encryption and steganography using mixtures of simultaneously sequenced, sequence-defined oligourethanes’, was printed by the American Chemical Society this month.
Source: www.unbiased.co.uk