Riyadh, May 6: Engineers have developed a thin smart patch called Marine Skin that could make the study of the behaviour of marine animals easier and more informative.

It is a system for electronic tagging of animals that is based on stretchable silicone elastomers that can withstand twisting, shearing and stretching, even when exposed to high pressures in deep waters.

"The integrated flexible electronics can track an animal's movement and diving behaviour and the health of the surrounding marine environment in real time," Joanna Nassar, who was one of the members of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology team that developed the patch, said in a statement.

"Using simple design tricks and soft materials, we were able to beat the current standard systems in terms of non-invasiveness, weight, operational lifetime and speed of operation," Nassar added.

In the current prototype, the location data is supplemented by recordings of water temperature and salinity. Additional sensing capabilities could be added in future.

"We are consistently advancing the field of flexible and stretchable electronics by making electronic systems in which every component is physically flexible," another team member Muhammad Mustafa Hussain, said.

The data is currently retrieved via wireless connection when the tag is removed. In future, the researchers hope to develop remote data retrieval procedures by overcoming the problems of transmitting signals through water.

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Chikkamagaluru: Five activists of BJP and Bajrang Dal were arrested by the Sakharayapatna Police for alleged murder of Congress activist and Sakharayapatna Gram Panchayat member Ganesh Gowda (38) on Friday night, following a fight over a banner.

Three of the arrested men, Sanjay, Bhushan and Mithun, are known to be BJP members.

An argument broke out between two groups in Sakharayapatna of Kadur taluk two days ago regarding a banner for observation of ‘Datta Jayanti’. The argument continued and intensified into a fight on Friday night near a bar in the village. Shortly later, at around 10:30 pm, a group of eight miscreants on motorbikes is learned to have stopped Gowda, who was traveling in a car on the Kalmurudeshwara Mutt Road and attacked him with lethal weapons.

A seriously injured Gowda reportedly died on the spot.

One of the suspects, Sanjay, was also injured in the attack and is being treated at the Chikkamagaluru Mallegowda District Hospital.

Sakharayapatna Police have registered a case and are investigating.

Chikkamagaluru Superintendent of Police Vikram Amte has said that, as precautionary measure, security has been beefed up in the village.

“While four special teams have been formed for investigation, five of the suspects have already been taken into custody. We are still probing the incident,” he added.