If this weren’t a Cornell University press release, I’d think it was a joke: using nanoparticles electrostatically placed on fabric fibers, a woman has created a (high fashion!) coat that can disable bacteria, viruses, and even oxidize smog, rendering it harmless.
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| <Homer>MMMMMmmmmmm, shiny nanoparticle encrusted fibers manipulated to diffract light to make the material reflective and control the color.</Homer> |
I mean, wow. Cool! But there’s one problem: it’s on the pricey side, at $10,000 per square yard. But that’s only $1100 per square foot, or, lessee… eight and a half bucks a square inch. That’s about a dollar per square centimeter! A bargain!
Now if we could make one that would render creationists and global warming deniers harmless…
Tip of the very tiny chapeau to Boing Boing.
June 6th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
Just so you know, the 90 mph winds that are freaking my dog out are extremely unusual. I haven’t seen anything like this, ever. I actually didn’t know that hurricane-power winds were possible in a regular dry wind storm. Then again, what do I know?
June 6th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
Okay, since someone else brought it up first…if you think the 80MPH winds are fun, just wait for that 2-3 feet of snow during the last week of “summer”. Speaking of wind, Google Wondervu (just SW of Boulder) and 119MPH.
June 6th, 2007 at 9:09 pm
A few square cms would be all you’d need for a surgical mask, or maybe someone infected with a contagion could wear one and be cared for without infecting nurses, family members, etc. For just a few dollars!
June 6th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
Make drapes out of them to protect from biowar attacks.
June 6th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
…or a condom
June 6th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
Borat’s bathing suit was made from this material.
June 6th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
A “smog-eating” paint which seems to effectively absorb pollution was used on a church in Rome
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/28/world/europe/28smog.html?ex=1322370000&en=3b9f357828fcd22d&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
June 7th, 2007 at 12:35 am
Well, I wouldn’t mind if more women spent $100 on such an outfit…
June 7th, 2007 at 2:12 am
[housewife mode]
Can I wash it in the washing machine?
[/housewife mode]
I’m not sure it’s really all that effective. Rather than spend all this money on a coat, simple hygiene will protect you from most bacteria and viruses. And as for the smog – how many such coats would we need to neutralize it? It’s not like we’ve solved our problem. Less pollution is what we should aim for.
June 7th, 2007 at 2:24 am
I know I have seen those clothes before adn then it hit me, the disco scene from Buck Rogers where everyone was dancing aroung with track lighting.
Hooray! We have the fashion sense of people from the 25th century….TODAY!!
I welcome the coming apocalypse and wish the future sentient species well.
June 7th, 2007 at 2:58 am
the money that could be made making a hat out of that stuff to protect the wearer from government mind control rays…
June 7th, 2007 at 4:15 am
There’s one other problem – it’s not actually your clothes that are at risk from bacteria, viruses, and smog.
June 7th, 2007 at 4:20 am
CS at 10:41 pm links to a site which uses “smog-eating paint”, and effects pollutants close by. Does graffiti qualify as a pollutant? If so, then there’s a way to effectively rub it out, at least within a short time after it was created.
Well, at least ’till some whiz kid develops a long persistence paint, as usually happens in an “I can out-smart you” syndrone.
Ivan.
June 7th, 2007 at 5:23 am
There’s already a material that does that – it’s a mix of a burlap sack, rope, a bucket, water, and quick-dry cement.
June 7th, 2007 at 5:54 am
Maybe Monica Lewinsky should get a dress made of this?…
… Oh, that wasn’t smog. No matter this stuff doesn’t need to be washed! Someone has invented cloth that doesn’t need to be washed, can kill viruses and bacteria, and clean up smog. Because, you know, when I’m running around…
June 7th, 2007 at 6:12 am
MKR, if that was in answer to BAs question then you and I are on the same track
)
June 7th, 2007 at 9:17 am
>>> Well, I wouldn’t mind if more women spent $100 on such an outfit…
Really? I thought they were about as sexy as a traffic accident. And I’m a veteran of the BDSM scene where the outfits could get really wacky.
June 7th, 2007 at 9:21 am
Now if we can just get 6 billion people to cough up $ 10,000 apiece, smog will just disappear. See? Science can solve all problems,,,(Now, where’s that dang smiley face?).
I’m still waiting for my nano-coated, invisibility cloak. (I mean one that’s affordable). Then I can surreptitiously throw pies at politicians,,,
Gary 7
June 7th, 2007 at 10:07 am
I can’t help but wonder how much smog is produced making that stuff…
June 7th, 2007 at 10:29 am
>>> I can’t help but wonder how much smog is produced making that stuff…
Google on the pollution created in the manufacture of hybrid car batteries some time. There’s a whole hidden dark side to the Prius.
June 7th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
I like the gold leggings! Sexy mostly depends on who wears it.
Would it still be $10,000 a yard if they mass-produced it, though?
Usually hi-tech stuff starts out expensive but gradually gets cheaper as time passes.
June 8th, 2007 at 2:48 am
Squid Zone said: “Someone has invented cloth that doesn’t need to be washed, can kill viruses and bacteria, and clean up smog.”
Wasn’t that the plot of a 1950′s Alec Guinness movie called “The Man in the White Suit?”
June 9th, 2007 at 8:14 am
Buzz, was that the, as I remember it, B&W British movie in which this “everlasting” suit material, (spoiler coming), couldn’t resist being out in the rain?
Thanks for helping me (hopefully) find that movie again.
Ivan.