Loeb's group has developed a device that mimics human skin, but puts the actual sensors away from places where skin is likely to be damaged or worn out.

CNN: Fingerprint study offers inspiration for robotics research

On a dusty patch of ground now stands rack upon rack of western clothes, made perhaps in China or other parts of Asia but already worn in Europe or America and then given away to charities to be sold, for very little, all over Africa, even in places like Lundazi.

ECONOMIST: Africa 40 years on