It’s not a flower. Maybe it’s part of a making-of documentary of a famous tub-based shock site. Actually, it does involve body modification, but it’s in the service of science, not human debasement.
What you see above is the application of a new type of circuit that can be applied like a temporary tattoo. Materials scientists have managed to cram electronic sensors, medical diagnostics tools and communications devices onto the tiny “smart skins”, which can stretch, fold and wrinkle, just like the skin they’re applied to.
The planned uses for the tech are mainly based in monitoring biometric data and allowing patients with muscular or neurological disorders a means of input for computers — they’ve already been used to control a basic video game. But looking forward, it’s easy to see how this could be the beginning of mobile-based in-body NFC, or the stuff of very, very bad science fiction. [Physorg]