[ti:South Korean Researchers Make Animal-Like ‘Skin’] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]South Korean researchers say [00:03.80]they have developed a skin-like material [00:07.16]that behaves like the skin of a chameleon. [00:11.96]It can change colors to look like its surroundings. [00:17.48]The team was led by Ko Seung-hwan, [00:21.36]a mechanical engineering professor [00:24.12]at Seoul National University. [00:28.40]The team created the skin with a special liquid [00:32.52]that turns colors in different temperatures. [00:37.28]These changes are controlled [00:39.76]by flexible heaters made of very small wires. [00:45.56]If you are in a desert, and you wear forest-colored clothing, [00:50.40]you can easily be seen, Ko told Reuters news agency. [00:57.36]Changing colors and forms actively with your surroundings [01:02.28]is central to the technology, Ko said. [01:06.96]The technology uses something called thermochromic liquid crystal [01:12.72]and silver nanowire heaters. [01:17.76]Thermochromic means heat causes the colors to change. [01:23.52]Nanowires are just like normal electrical wires, [01:28.08]but they are extremely small. [01:32.28]Ko and the team demonstrated this technology using [01:37.20]a chameleon-shaped robot with color-seeking sensors. [01:43.64]The skin tried to copy whatever colors the sensors "saw" around it. [01:51.04]In a video, the robot walked on red, blue and green floors. [01:58.52]It immediately changed color to look like its surroundings. [02:05.04]Ko explained to Reuters how the material works. [02:10.80]He said when the sensors find color information, [02:15.16]they move that information to a very small processor. [02:20.84]Then, the information goes to silver nanowire heaters. [02:28.04]When the heaters reach a specified temperature, [02:31.76]the thermochromic liquid crystal changes its color, Ko said. [02:38.56]Though the skin is made of many layers, [02:41.72]its total thickness is less than a hundred micrometers. [02:47.60]In other words, it is thinner than a human hair. [02:52.60]By adding more silver nanowire layers [02:56.56]in simple shapes like lines or squares, [03:00.60]the skin can create complex designs. [03:05.92]"The flexible skin can be developed [03:08.80]as a wearable device and used for fashion," Ko said. [03:15.12]It can also be used in military clothing and to create [03:20.28]designs on the outside of cars and buildings, he said. [03:26.84]The team's research was published [03:29.28]in the journal Nature Communications in August. [03:33.84]I'm Alice Bryant. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM