I’ve got a story out in Nature News about an “electronic skin” that can monitor a person’s heartbeat, brain activity, muscle contractions and more, without the need for bulky conventional electronics. It’s no thicker than a human hair and can be applied as easily as a temporary tattoo. It sticks without the need for any glue, and can flex and stretch without breaking.

It’s an amazing piece of technology. Go to Nature to read the full story. Meanwhile, I’m posting the full (lightly edited) transcript of my chat with John Rogers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who led the development of the electronic skin. He said a lot of interesting stuff that didn’t make it into the final piece and really gets across the many potential applications of the device.

Why did you try and design an electronic skin?

It’s a natural progression of the flexible electronics that we’ve been working on for years. The origins of our work date back 15 years almost. We previously looked at cardiac devices and brain imaging devices that mount on the internal tissues of the body. I’m a material scientist ...