Skip to main content

L’Oreal’s fingernail wearable tells users when they’ve had too much sun

A team of engineers at Northwestern University have teamed up with cosmetics company L’Oreal to create a fingernail wearable that lets users know when they’ve had too much Sun. UV Sense is small enough to stick on your nail, simple enough to work without batteries, and sophisticated enough to record cumulative UV exposure to help wearers avoid skin cancer.

At last check, nearly 77,000 people were diagnosed with skin cancer in the United States, making melanoma the most common form of cancer in the country. It’s not hard to see why. We tend to worship the sun like ancient Egyptians, spending entire days basking in its rays, too often neglecting the fact that a dark tan can lead to cancer.

Northwestern University

With UV Sense, L’Oreal wants to make monitoring UV exposure easy. No wider than a dime and as thick as an M&M, the solar-powered device has no battery, moving parts, or buttons. It sticks on your fingernail — or necklace, shirt button, or bracelet — and uses a sensor to measure UV exposure.

Recommended Videos

It’s not as feature-rich and flashy as most other wearables, but that’s kind of the point. Just stick it on and periodically swipe it over your phone, which wirelessly collects its measurements and shows them in an app, complete with a UV report and advice on how to avoid the sun. As a L’Oreal device, expect recommendations on L’Oreal products to purchase as well.

“UV exposure is so key to skin health and appearance,” John Rogers, a Northwestern engineer who led the technical development, told Digital Trends. “From a user standpoint, it’s hard to imagine anything simpler, in the sense that you never have to worry if you’re battery is charged up, since it doesn’t need one. There are no moving parts or buttons, and no physical interfaces to the device. It all happens wirelessly to the phone.”

One of the biggest challenges Rogers and his team faced in developing UV Sense was the antenna design and electronic circuit design that enable such a small device to interface with a phone. Solving those issues, “opened up the ability to mount technology in places that were previously not considered,” he said. Like the fingernail.

It also means Rogers and his research can experiment with other miniaturized sensors to monitor things like heart rate, respiration rate, blood oxygen levels. “You can do all of that from the nail,” he said.

UV Sense should be available in time for summer and will retail for under $50, The Verge reports.

Dyllan Furness
Former Contributor
Dyllan Furness is a freelance writer from Florida. He covers strange science and emerging tech for Digital Trends, focusing…
The Ioniq 5 is once again eligible for the $7,500 tax credit
2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5

After a brief and confusing absence, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 is once again eligible for the full $7,500 federal tax credit — and this time, it's sticking around (at least for now). So, what happened? Let’s unpack the ride.

The Ioniq 5, a sleek and tech-savvy electric crossover, initially made headlines not just for its design, but for being built at Hyundai’s brand-new Metaplant in Georgia. That domestic assembly qualified it for the EV tax credit under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which requires vehicles to be made in North America with batteries sourced from trade-friendly countries. But early in 2025, the Ioniq 5 vanished from the list. Why? Likely due to its battery packs, which were then still being sourced from SK On’s Hungarian facility.

Read more
Sebastian Stan lays out Bucky’s future after Thunderbolts
Sebastian Stan in Thunderbolts.

There are some spoilers ahead for the ending of Marvel's Thunderbolts. Stop reading now if you don't want to be spoiled.

Earlier this year, Captain America: Brave New World briefly introduced a new direction for James "Bucky" Barnes, a character Sebastian Stan has been playing since 2011 in Captain America: The First Avenger. In Brave New World, the former Winter Soldier apparently retired from being a reformed hero and went into politics by running for Congress. Thunderbolts reveals that Bucky won his election to the House of Representatives. But his stay in Congress was short.

Read more
Jeep Compass EV breaks cover—but will it come to the U.S.?
jeep compass ev us newjeepcompassfirsteditionhawaii  4

Jeep just pulled the wraps off the all-new Compass EV, and while it’s an exciting leap into the electric future, there's a catch—it might not make it to the U.S. anytime soon.
This is a brand new electric version of the Jeep Compass, and being built on Stellantis' STLA platform—the same architecture underpinning models like the Peugeot E-3008 and E-5008—it looks much slicker and packs a lot more inside than previous versions of the Compass.
Let’s start with what’s cool: the new Compass EV is packing up to 404 miles of range on a single charge, a 74 kWh battery, and fast-charging that gets you from 20% to 80% in about 30 minutes. Not bad for a compact SUV with Jeep's badge on the nose.
There are two versions: a front-wheel-drive model with 213 horsepower and a beefier all-wheel-drive version with 375 horsepower. That AWD setup isn’t just for looks—it can handle 20% inclines even without front traction, and comes with extra ground clearance and better off-road angles. In short, it’s still a Jeep.
The design's been refreshed too, and inside you’ll find the kind of tech and comfort you’d expect in a modern EV—sleek, smart, and ready for both city streets and dirt trails.
But here’s the thing: even though production starts soon in Italy, Jeep hasn’t said whether the Compass EV is coming to America. And the signs aren’t promising.
Plans to build it in Canada were recently put on hold, with production now delayed until at least early 2026. Some of that might have to do with possible U.S. tariffs on Canadian and Mexican vehicles—adding a layer of uncertainty to the whole rollout.
According to Kelley Blue Book, a Stellantis spokesperson confirmed that the company has “temporarily paused work on the next-generation Jeep Compass, including activities at” the Canadian plant that was originally meant to build the model. They added that Stellantis is “reassessing its product strategy in North America” to better match customer needs and demand for different powertrain options.
So while Europe and other markets are gearing up to get the Compass EV soon, American drivers might be left waiting—or miss out entirely.
That’s a shame, because on paper, this electric Jeep hits a lot of sweet spots. Let’s just hope it finds a way over here.

Read more