But Sansoz and a team of other scientists have made a discovery that may change that. Working with silver at a vanishingly small scale—nanowires just a few hundred atoms thick—they discovered that they could make wires that were both super strong “and stretchy like gum,” he says.

This kind of silver wire could be fashioned into a mesh that conducts current, allows light to shine through—and bends so easily “you might be able to tie your smartphone into a knot,” he says.