Company creates microbial “textile”

September 10, 2013  |  Out There

London-based BioCouture has chosen to develop a unique niche in the advanced textiles marketplace. The company grows sustainable materials from renewable or waste resources, transforming microbes into haute couture. Their unique, low-impact fermentation process creates a biodegradable material that …
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Kite™ Mosquito Patch offers 48-hour protection

August 11, 2013  |  Out There

A company in Riverside, Calif., is on a mission to save us from … mosquitos. Kite™ Mosquito Patch claims that it can offer 48-hour protection against the insects, which are, at the very least, pesky. Far worse, they spread diseases that too often prove fatal. The “breakthrough scientific disco…
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Solar airplane completes cross-country flight

August 8, 2013  |  Out There

The term “barnstorming” means traveling around the countryside giving speeches, lectures or performances. Solar Impulse, the first aircraft that runs completely on solar energy, barnstormed across America to make a point about dramatic progress in renewable solar power. The Swiss team that devel…
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High fashion and highly functional

August 5, 2013  |  Out There

The desire to realize a textile solar energy harvesting surface that offers maximum design freedom while still being highly efficient was the driving force behind The Solar Handbag, initiated by Swiss embroidery company Forster Rohner AG and conducted in a joint research project with Swiss partners,…
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Printing large solar cells

July 30, 2013  |  Out There

Scientists have produced the largest flexible, plastic solar cells in Australia—10 times the size of previous materials—thanks to a new solar cell printer installed at Australian research institution CSIRO. The printer has allowed researchers from the Victorian Organic Solar Cell Consortium (VIC…
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How smart are your clothes?

July 1, 2013  |  Out There

Canadian researcher imbeds interactive electronic functions in new composite fibers. From corsets to caftans, we have seen dramatic changes in popular style over the past 100 years. New research from Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, now brings the future of fashion into focus by taking a clos…
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Glowing Man lights up the slopes

June 27, 2013  |  Out There

Photographer/director Jacob Sutton filmed pro snowboarder William Hughes over the course of three nights in the French Alps, doing what a snowboarder does, in a manner of speaking. But for the “Glowing Man” project, Hughes was outfitted in a custom LED-covered suit, created by designer John Spat…
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Getting a reaction

June 10, 2013  |  Out There

A reactive technology enables new functions and possibilities with normal interfaces. Tangible Textural Interfaces (TTI), a project created by materials and industrial designer, Eunhee Jo, sought to redefine the role of the surface in future lifestyles, exploring how surfaces can be an integrated as…
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Underwater tenting helps advance marine science

June 1, 2013  |  Out There

Clear vinyl pyramids are proving to be a valuable tool for checking reef health. It may seem that Dr. Nichole Price has a job in paradise: cruising between remote tropical, often deserted, islands in the South Pacific, doing a bit of diving and pitching tents. As a postdoctoral researcher at the Scr…
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Creating the future of textiles: Flexible components

May 1, 2013  |  Out There

New technique could enable the creation of a variety of fiber-based electronic and photonic devices. What do saltwater taffy and smart textiles have in common? Until recently, probably nothing. But scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found a way to “pull” fibers—…
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