Synthetic skin makes nanowire science news

The latest science news from the University of California - Berkeley recounts one team's efforts to create artificial skin out of nanowires.

Ali Javey, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences heads up the research team.

"The idea is to have a material that functions like the human skin, which means incorporating the ability to feel and touch objects," he explains.

Future applications of the skin are not aimed at creating synthetic materials for use in cosmetic surgery, but in touch-sensitive laboratory products.

As a result, future science news headlines could feature the creation of a hand capable of holding an uncooked egg without cracking it, the scientists suggest.

Ultimately, humanoid robots with their own sense of touch could be produced with a skin made from inorganic single crystalline semiconductors.

Professor Javey joined the Berkeley faculty in 2006, one year after receiving his PhD from Stanford University in the field of chemistry.