A consortium of experts from Scotland and Sweden claims to have
struck a blow against one of the biggest drawbacks to visiting
sunny foreign climes, sunburn. Every year, thousands of poorly
prepared holidaymakers succumb to the painful and potentially
dangerous effects of soaking up too much sun, not only abroad,
but also on those rare sunny intervals in the UK. Now,
researchers from the University of Strathclyde, in Scotland,
have teamed up with Swedish organisation, Intellego
Technologies, to create a wristband that warns sunbathers when
they are about to enter the danger zone. The paper wrist monitor
changes colour when exposed to varying amounts of Ultra-Violet
radiation, the harmful content of light beams emitted by the
sun’s rays. In prolonged sunlight, the narrow band changes from
its yellow starting colour, to pink, alerting the wearer that
they should consider covering up or taking shelter. The
developers of the band are confident that its sensitivity to UV
radiation can be tweaked so that they can p