It’s something that you’d more-or-less expect from a University called … Wollongong, where a group of top researchers has come up with a hi-tech condom that feels, well, like a “second skin”.

The key, according to sciencealert.com is an ultra-tough material called hydrogel.

According to the science news site, hydrogel appears to resemble and act like human tissue, and is  already being used in prosthetics to create things such as blood vessels and even eye implants.

At Wollongong, the scientists, led by Robert Gorkin, decided to investigate whether hydrogel could replace latex to create condoms that couples, groups, whatever, actually didn’t mind using.

According to the website, “they entered the idea in a recent Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation call-out for a Next Generation Condom, and won one of 52 grants on offer, giving them access to US$100,000 to research the viability of their hydrogel condoms. Nine months on, and things are looking extremely promising, with the material not only able to physically act like a condom, but also able to block biological material.”