Hard N Soft Helmet

Researchers at the University of Hertfordshire have discovered a complex elastomeric compound they call d3o that is both soft and hard.

A shear thickening material, it is flexible when moved slowly, but when it is compresssed by an impact, its molecules lock together. The material stiffens, spreading the impact over a greater area. The Swiss company Ribcap is bringing out a new line of headgear for snowsports based on this material. The Ribcap is a combination soft, flexible beanie and tough helmet.

After five years of development, the Ribcap team settled on d3o as the material of choice. Ruth Gough, d3o's brand manager describes her own experience using the Ribcap while out on the piste,
... she [Gough] had a rather dramatic fall that terminated on her head. "I was a bit dazed, and I almost wasn't sure whether I had actually hit my head, although the concern I got from those who saw it assured me that I really had, and quite hard!"
This is a common reaction to real world d3o impact trials. d3o is so comfortable it feels like an extension of you. It's very easy to forget it's there, and you'd be forgiven for thinking, in that split second before you hit the ground "this is never going to work..."

In their 1971 novel The Flying Sorcerers, David Gerrold and Larry Niven write about an impact suit with similar properties:

"It was my impact suit," Purple said. He took a step forward and thumped himself hard in the belly with this fist. His belly was big and soft, so the blow should have made him wince. It did not. I thought for a moment that Purple had become rigid as stone.

Tattoos gain even more visibility

Who in the world gets a neck tattoo? A couple of years back you could have narrowed the answer to gang members, prison inmates, members of Russian mob and the rapper Lil Wayne. Then something occurred. In a mysterious and inexorable process that seems to transform all that is low culture into something high, permanent ink markings began creeping toward the traditional no-go zones for all kinds of people, past collar and cuffs, those twin lines of clothed demarcation that even now some tattoo artist are reluctant to cross. Not entirely surprisingly, facial piercing followed suit.

Suddenly it is not just retro punks and hard- core rappers who look as if they've tossed over any intention of ever working a straight job. Artists with prominent Chelsea galleries and thriving careers, practicing physicians, Funeral directors, fashion models and stylists are turning up with more holes in their faces than nature provided, and all manner of marks on their throats and hands. A year ago, jenny Dembrow, an associate executive director of the Lower eastside girls Club, a Manhattan social service agency, decided to add to her collection of body modifications, which already included a Greek key necklace inked below her clavicle and draped across her shoulders, holes pierced in her cheeks, and earlobe perforations that have been stretched an inch wide over time. The design Dembrow said’ I’ve been drawn to tattoos and counterculture,” as she presided over a tea party held for girls and young women served by her agency.” T this point, though, it almost seems as if you’re more outside the mainstream if u don’t have tattoo.”

Who can say, she added, what would happen if she thrust back into the work force? “Would I be forced to sell punk rock T- shirt in some horrible shop on St marks Place?” she said. She might. While there is ample evidence of tattooing migration from the backwaters of alternative culture into the mainstream ( or at least onto some part of David beckham’s body)’, we are still a long way from seeing facial tattoos on the selling floor of the stock exchange. In case after case, the courts have found on the job appearance requirements – including policies forbidding tattoos and body modifications – to be nondiscriminatory.

It is only relatively recently that tattoo artists were comfortable inking neck and hands. “ In the old days tattooists wouldn’t do it.’ Said Bob Baxter, the editor of the tattoo journal skin and Ink . “There are 528shops in New York and maybe 10 won’t do it now.”

BLONDES GET MORE SEX

wOMEN who dye their blonde experinces an increase in feelings of attractiveness to the oppsite sex and general, claim researchers from the NOTTINGLAM trent University. Also, women who dye their hair blonde are more likely to sing and dance in front of strangers or ask someone out for a date,"Not only were their confidence and mood levels elevated but heir inhibitiouns seemes to be mitigated with many reporting feeling more attractive and sexually exciting." the experts said

SOLAR PURSE AND SOLAR WAIST BATTERIES

Fashion always keeps at least one eye on the future. Now scientists are lending a hand, developing tomorrow's super-powered clothing such as garments that can recharge your MP3 player and exoskeletons that enhance strength.

For instance, electronics could get recharged in the future simply by plugging them into your outerwear, because Australian researchers are designing clothing that can harvest energy from a person. The garments would incorporate devices to convert vibration energy from a person's movements into electricity. Advanced conductive fabrics would carry this energy to flexible batteries.

"This kind of technology has important applications for soldiers in the field and could mean they no longer need to carry heavy batteries," Best added. "Essentially, they’d be wearing the battery, not carrying it."

Besides helping soldiers, these garments could also have civilian applications, such as powering radios, mobile phones, MP3 players or medical devices such as vital-sign monitoring systems. Solar-powered handbags could accomplish the same thing.