Ads for skin creams claiming to eliminate eye bags and smooth wrinkles seem to appear everywhere on the internet. Customers buy them hoping to tighten aging skin with little fuss.

Now, scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Massachusetts General Hospital have developed what may be a high-tech approach to skin tightening treatment. Their product is a silicone-based polymer that mimics healthy, youthful skin, reshaping eye bags and acting as a moisturizer. The scientists describe the polymer as a “second skin” in the May 9 online issue of Nature Materials, and they say doctors could even use it to deliver topical drugs.

The new material goes on in two steps: First, a user applies a silicon-oxygen cream to his skin. Second, he adds a platinum-based catalyst ointment, causing the polymer to harden.

In tests with human subjects, the polymer eliminated eye bags for up to 24 hours. Eye bags are the protrusions below the eyes (caused by fat pads under the skin) that often form as the skin ages and becomes less elastic. The research team also found that polymer-treated skin retained moisture much more effectively than skin treated with a high-end moisturizer. That could be important for treating skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis as well as the dry skin that comes with aging, the researchers said.

“We tell people to pat their skin with a damp washcloth and put on a heavy moisturizer, but that only lasts a short time,” Barbara Gilchrest, a dermatologist and co-author of the paper, told The New York Times. “They end up with greasy goo all over the sheets, and they wake up in the middle of the night, terribly uncomfortable. We [needed] something that was easier to use and didn’t make a mess and stays.”

A new startup, Olivo Laboratories, will further develop the technology, focusing initially on medical applications. According to The Washington Post, users—for now at least—can’t layer the polymer with makeup, a cosmetic disadvantage that may keep it from becoming an affordable beauty product for customers.

State-of-the-art cheating

The temptation to cheat on an exam can be very strong, especially in cultures that view entrance exams as make-or-break for career success. For some students, it seems that sophisticated, miniaturized technology can make that temptation even stronger.

Rangsit University in Thailand recently caught a group of students using smartwatches and tiny cameras concealed in eyeglasses to cheat on a medical school entrance exam, forcing the cancellation of the tests.

According to Reuters, the elaborate scheme involved three groups of students. The first group entered the examination room and photographed the test using their advanced glasses. After only 45 minutes, they left the room, uploaded the test images, and sent the images to a second group, who answered all the questions and passed the answers to those students still taking the exam via their wireless smartwatches.

“They answered all the questions then sent text messages to those students who wanted to be in the medical department,” Rangsit University deputy director Nares Pantaratorn told Thai television.

The university “blacklisted” three students following the cheating scam and rescheduled the exams for a later date. —M.C.