Top tips for multifunctional clothing
WHAT novel items of multifunctional clothing could the fertile brains of Feedback readers come up with? As an inducement, we offered examples of the emergency face-mask bra invented by Elena Bodnar (9 October). That won her the 2009 IgNobel prize for public health – representing work that “makes you laugh, then makes you think”.
And the winners are:
David Aldred of Brough, East Yorkshire, UK: for proposing a solution to the problem posed by the 2010 Ig Nobel prize for physics – that although wearing socks over your shoes improves grip on icy paths, people soon take off the socks because they look odd worn in this way. David’s solution is for the socks to feature a design that looks like a walking shoe.
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Emma Clarke of Coventry, UK: for her proposed pantaloons equipped with a ripcord, allowing the wearer to parachute from a low building in the event of fire.
Gavin Horne of Slough, UK: for defibrillator shoes. Walking keeps them charged, perhaps using a piezoelectric material that turns each footstep into current. In case of need, you take the shoes off, pop your hands inside, and apply the soles to your chest to administer the required electric shock.
Catlin Mattheis of San Luis Obispo, California: for a flood self-rescue belt. It comprises an inner tube containing sodium, which when wet generates hydrogen gas that inflates the belt. As Caitlin notes, some further research and development is required, not least to ensure that it doesn’t inflate in the rain.
Lastly, Aidan Smith of Geleen in the Netherlands proposes a suit for mountaineers that turns into an airbag when a built-in accelerometer detects that the wearer is falling. Aidan notes that, on the downside, his idea might inadvertently give rise to a new extreme sport – “airbagging” down mountains. Feedback disclaims all responsibility for any injury that may ensue, and for pretty much anything else.
The bras will be winging their way to the lucky winners as soon as they tell us what sizes they would like.
“The curse of the spellchecker strikes again. “Mine corrects my surname to Coitus,” Stuart Coutts tells us sadly”
Do power bands make you superhuman?
ANGRY Australians have been writing to Feedback about “power bands”. According to the newspaper in Sydney, these wristbands, widely advertised for A$60 each (equivalent to about the same number of US dollars), are said to have “the potential to make ordinary men into super human” (sic).
Soccer stars and Cristiano Ronaldo and racing driver Rubens Barrichello have been photographed wearing the bands. The hype seems particularly strong in Australia, where prominent rugby league and Australian football players are endorsers.
The website of offers testimonials from prominent sporting figures around the world, and includes links to promotional sites specific to some 40 countries – though at the moment many of these sites are billed as “coming soon”.
So what are these bands, exactly? According to the FAQs on Power Balance’s website, the product is “based on the idea of optimising the body’s natural energy flow, similar to concepts behind many Eastern philosophies. The hologram [on every wristband] is designed to respond to the natural energy field of the body. The Mylar material [of which the holograms are made] has been treated with energy waves at specific frequencies. The resulting Mylar is believed to resonate and work with your body’s natural energy flow to help enable you to perform at the best of your ability”.
We are at a loss to understand what is being said here. We can only suggest that the sportspeople who are impressed by it might benefit from learning a bit of basic science – as we advised the Red Bull Formula 1 team to do after it signed up for Far Infrared Rays TEXtile vests (5 June).
We are happy to report, however, that questions are being asked about these miracle trinkets. On 7 October Melbourne newspaper The Age reported that the claim that Power Balance’s hologram technology is “designed to interact with your body’s natural energy” is, according to medical experts, a “load of bunk”. The article was headlined “ the latest snake oil?” A pertinent question, we think.
IN A corridor in a north Wales hospital stands a mobile X-ray unit. It has a key switch marked “On” and “Off”. In between those settings, Tony Richardson tells us, someone has scratched “Neither”.
Tony wonders whether this puts the X-rays in a superposition of states – and whether this makes them able to do their diagnostic task without harmful side effects.
THE packaging of the Nortene rain gauge that Brian King bought told him that it was “for measuring rainfall; calibrated in inches and millimetres for easy use; for indoor and outdoor use”.
FINALLY, BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner has asked Feedback to clarify, for the avoidance of doubt, that he made none of the comments about a “homeopathic bomb” that we quoted from a satirical website (5 November). We are happy to do so.