What will we be wearing in the
future?
Whether they're invisible or made out of
chicken
feathers, the fabrics that make up our clothes are changing.
One of these may be made up of something that grows so
fast it's almost considered a weed in Asia: bamboo. And
finally, a machine has been invented that can spin silk as
strong as spiders.
Bamboo is widely available in Japan, China, India and other
countries, and bamboo fabric is soft, durable and elastic. It
hangs as gracefully as silk, and has an attractive, lustrous
sheen. Bamboo is also one of the world?s fastest growing
plants, reaching maturity in about 3-4 years, compared to 25
to 70 years for commercial tree species in the US.
Chemist Subhash Appidi says, "Bamboo is environmentally
friendly. Pesticides and other agents are necessary to grow
most other natural fibers?there is nothing like that in bamboo
production."
In BBC News, Jonathan Fildes reports that other scientists
have developed tiny fibers that generate electrical energy
from movement. If woven into cloth that is then made into
clothing, we could power electric appliances (and video
games) with our bodies.
Fildes also reports that a device has been built which can
produce fibers which?like silk?are incredibly light in weight
but 5 times stronger than steel.
He quotes researcher Dianne Jones as saying, "The ability to
generate power for personal electronics using the clothing we
wear would be a breakthrough in smart and interactive
garments." We already have clothes that
spy on
us, but what we REALLY need are pants that hem
themselves!
Art credit: freeimages.co.uk
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