Stretchy wearable sensors can tell when you're about to get sunburnt

A device the size of a nicotine patch could soon tell when you've spent too long exposed to the sun and need to take a break.

Researchers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Australia have created wearable stretchable sensors that could be worn on the skin, capable of detecting ultraviolet (UV) radiation and dangerous gases.

The team have shown they can take an ordinary material such as zinc oxide — a key ingredient in sunscreen — and turn it into an unbreakable electric sensor patch, less than a millimetre or so thick, Ph.D researcher Philipp Gutruf told Mashable Australia. Read more...