Able to remain in either of two stable states without external energy; used in electronics and biology to describe systems like switches or circuits.
From Latin bi- (two) + English stable (from Latin stabilis, firm). The term emerged in 20th-century electronics and information theory to describe circuits that could hold either of two positions.
Bistable circuits are the reason computers work—they're essentially fancy light switches that stay in 'on' or 'off' until you flip them, representing the 1s and 0s of all digital information!
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