An excellent run-down on the SF Bay community networking efforts: the San Francisco Bay Guardian writer captures the real feel of what's going on down there, or at least it matches my filter on the world.
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80211b News]
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No More Bugging Your Kids to Take a Jacket Just in Case It Rains.
Fabrics Smart Enough to Change Colors and Keep You Dry
"Currently plastics made with conductive polymers are mostly used for mundane jobs like shielding electronics from radiation or controlling static electricity. But by weaving conductive polymer yarns into 'smart textiles,' it may be possible to create a highly breathable windbreaker that transforms itself into a raincoat when its sensors capture the first drops of a downpour. Other smart textiles may change color at the flick of a switch or allow parts of a garment to act as a microprocessor for wearable computers....
However conductive fibers are created, Dr. Gregory said, one of their first applications in smart textiles will probably be color shifting. The military is financing research into the creation of what it calls chameleon fabrics....
Because chemicals in the air can alter the doping of a conductive fiber, Dr. Gregory said it should also be possible, and relatively simple, to make a sun hat that changes color as a warning when pollution levels rise.
A jacket that can take on any kind of weather is much further off. It would probably involve a complex mix of smart textiles and advanced weaving techniques....
Some of the fibers, for example, might be used in a system that alters the molecular alignment of the textile or a coating so that it could absorb perspiration when it is sunny and warm or repel rain when the clouds move in. (The way that hair on your arm stands up when placed near a television screen is a crude demonstration of how fibers can aligned by electrical fields.) Other conductive fibers could form solar energy collectors to power the system." [New York Times: Technology]
What I really want is clothing that keeps me warm at work because the air conditioning is so cold, but yet keeps me cool when I go out for lunch.
[The Shifted Librarian]
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