clothes and plastics, has been developed by scientists in France. Electroplating uses electric current to carry positively charged metal ions to a negatively charged object, where they gain electrons to be deposited as metal on the substrate. This process has been limited to substrates that conduct electricity, however. The researchers, who report on their work in today's edition of Nature, have extended the process to non-conducting objects. By positioning a plate next to the negatively charged cathode, they manipulated the conditions for the electric current in such a way as to cause a metal film to spread from the cathode evenly over the plate. Ecole Polytechnique/ CNRS, Palaiseau Cedex, France; tel: +33 1 69 33 33 33; www.polytechnique.fr