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Artificial Self-Healing Skin Can Sense Touch

Posted by samzenpus on from the touchy-feely dept.

thomst writes "Tim Wogan reports that chemical engineer Zhenan Bao of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, and her team have increased the conductivity of a self-healing polymer by incorporating nickel atoms. The polymer they have produced is sensitive to applied forces like pressure and torsion (twisting) because such forces alter the distance between the nickel atoms, changing the electrical resistance of the polymer. Their work is published online in the November 1 issue of Nature Nanotechnology (abstract here, full article paywalled). Now Bao and her team are working on making the polymer more flexible."

5 of 18 comments (clear)

  1. How long before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...this is used for sex toys?

  2. Torsion? by multiben · · Score: 3, Funny

    I like how the summary includes an explanation of what torsion means. That was easily the most complex part of this article (piece of writing) so it was nice to have it put in layman's' terms.

    1. Re:Torsion? by h4rr4r · · Score: 2

      Sorry, I have had to deal with too much stupid today.

    2. Re:Torsion? by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 2

      Spongebob forbid that a journalist should make even a minimal effort to make his article more accessible to a wider audience by briefly redefining an infrequently used mainly scientific term into everyday language.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  3. Re:Succession, if allowed would be a boom. by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 3, Funny

    Congratulations on seceding from both correct spelling and the right article :)

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.