This is pretty neat: Using carbon nanotubes bent to act as springs, Stanford researchers have developed a stretchable, transparent skin-like sensor. The sensor can sense pressure from a gentle pinch to thousands of pounds. According to the Stanford news story:
That enviable elasticity is one of several new features built into a new transparent skin-like pressure sensor that is the latest sensor developed by Stanford's Zhenan Bao, associate professor of chemical engineering, in her quest to create an artificial "super skin." The sensor uses a transparent film of single-walled carbon nanotubes that act as tiny springs, enabling the sensor to accurately measure the force on it, whether it's being pulled like taffy or squeezed like a sponge.
The video above describes the research in greater detail. Bao's team says the technology might one day have applications in prosthetic limbs.
Previously: Stretchable solar cells could power electronic 'super skin'
