Hideki Shirakawa, a Japanese scientist and co-winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in chemistry, has died at the age of 90. ^[1] Shirakawa died on August 24, according to the University of Tsukuba, where he taught and researched after joining in 1979. ^[2] Shirakawa worked with American scientists Alan Heeger and Alan MacDiarmid to develop plastics that could conduct electricity. ^[3] The discovery of conductive polymers paved the way for inexpensive, lightweight, and flexible conductive materials used in solar cells and mobile phone screens. ^[4] Shirakawa was awarded the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for leading the development of conductive polymers (plastics that conduct electricity). ^[5] Hideki Shirakawa was an emeritus professor at Tsukuba University in Japan. ^[6] Shirakawa's research on conductive polymers contributed to advances in smartphone display technology. ^[7]