The system might someday be applied to prosthetics to mimic human skin’s ability to feel sensation.

An innovative approach in nanoscience to detect the presence of exotic quasiparticles, known as Majorana fermions, has won the 2012 AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize.

The association’s oldest prize, now supported by The Fodor Family Trust, annually recognizes the author or authors of an outstanding paper published in the Research Articles or Reports sections of the journal Science between June and the following May.