A clear, bandage-like sensor could eventually make everything from fabrics to our fingers smart. Dr. Yong Zhu and a team of North Carolina State University researchers created an ultra-thin, flexible sensor that could be used in clothing, on the body, any in other ordinary objects to track things like strain, pressure, human touch, and bioelectronic signals. The endeavor began in 2012 when Zhu developed elastic conductors made from carbon nanotubes. The technique he used was fairly simple: silver nanowires are placed on a silicon plate, and then a liquid polymer is poured over them and heated, converting it from a liquid to an elastic solid. The entire form is peeled off the silicon, now with the nanowires inside of it. That’s the technology Zhu uses in this new sensor, which can be stretched 150 percent or more of its original length without losing functionality.