Devices which have a very short shelf life and break on purpose may not seem like the best idea, but a team of researchers at the University of Illinois say the materials they are working on could change the way we manufacture and consume goods.

A project at the University of Illinois has seen engineers investigating how to build electronics that vanish in water, the self-destructive material has possible applications in medical devices that degrade naturally, or reducing waste from technologies we do not keep for more than a year or two.

John Rogers is a professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University. Rogers says the goal of the "born to die" program is to design transient technology that can dissolve at the end of its useful life, thus saving space in landfills and reducing waste. One commenter said it was nice to see the power of planned obsolescence used for good.

Progress is slow, researchers have been working on the project since 2012, but they have completed the first step - developing a chip which breaks down in water.

A report featuring a video on the new chip is available here.