Hi-Tech Fabric Changes Color When Exposed to Human Touch Or Music

Given that technology is being incorporated into every aspect of our life, it is not surprising to hear the emergence of 'smart' clothing that make lifeless fabrics fun and playful. London-based Cute Circuit has been creating interactive fashions likehuggable shirts and dresses that transmit live tweets, since 2004. Now Hungarian designer Judit Eszter Karpati has joined the fray with Chromosonic, a high-tech material that changes color when exposed to touch or sound.

In order to create this unusual fabric, Judit began by dying it with thermochromatic ink, which changes color when the temperature increases or decreases. Hence when a human hand is placed over the fabric, its natural heat reacts with the thermochromatic ink, resulting in colorful, albeit temporary fingerprints.

To invoke a similar reaction to music and other audio, the designer, interweavednichrome wires into the fabric. She then connected the wires to a tiny Arduino microcomputer, which allowed her to feed sound files into the fabric. The energy from the sound caused the wires to heat up, which in turn changed the temperature of the thermochromatic ink resulting in a playful fabric that changed colors, the entire time the audio was on.

Unfortunately, unlike the folks at Cute Circuit, Judit who created this fun fabric as part of her master's project, has no intention of making it available for commercial use. But one can always hope that she will change her mind!

Gloucestershire's Hilarious Cheese Rolling Event Attracts Thousands

The annual 'Cheese Rolling' in Gloucestershire, England, has to be amongst the most hilarious events in the world. As the name indicates, it involves contestants running or as is normally the case, tumbling down a steep 200-meter incline in pursuit of an 8lbs wheel of Double Gloucester cheese.

The competition, which takes place on the last Monday of May, is a tradition that dates all the way back to the 1900's. While it remained a well-kept secret for many years, the event has experienced tremendous growth over the last decade. This came to a head in 2009, when 15,000 people flocked to the Cooper's Hill to watch the fun event. Concerned about the increasing crowds and potential for injuries, the officials decided to cancel the age-old tradition, in 2010.

That however does not seem to have deterred the organizers or the fans who have continued to flock to this fun event that entails grown men and women chasing an out of control cheese wheel. The fun of course is in watching the contestants themselves spiral out of control and brought to a halt by 'special catchers', who are lined up at the finish line.

This year's event, which took place on May 26th, attracted a crowd of over 5,000 people from all across the world. While most had come to enjoy the mayhem, there were many brave souls that had traveled from great distances just to take a plunge down the steep Cooper's Hill.

As is the tradition, the competition comprised of four downhill races including a women's race and three uphill races - for girls and boys (14 and under) as well as a mixed competition for adults. The craziness ended with a grand finale - a mass descent of the hill for anyone brave enough to tumble down with the large crowd. While the 2013 contenders had to settle for foam cheese wheels because the officials had threatened to hold the cheesemaker liable for injuries, this fear seemed to have either been ignored or retracted this year.

That meant that the 2014 competitors were chasing down wheels of delicious cheese handmade by 87-year-old cheesemaker, Diana Smart. But of course not everyone was doing it for the prize. Gloucestershire resident Josh Shepherd who won the first competition apparently hates cheese. The 19-year-old cheese-rollingveteran who has never won before, says he zipped down like a 'rocket' to ensure that a local took home the first race of the day and, because it was fun.

This year's event also included an extra race thanks to Gloucestershire's twin cityGouda, whose team came bearing a 7lbs wheel of the city's namesake cheese. While the roll of the dark orange Dutch cheese which is a little softer than the Double Gloucester cheese was unable to take the rigors of the steep hill and disintegrated by the time it rolled down, the participants of the inaugural 'rolling of the Gouda cheese' did not seem to care! They were just here to have fun and roll with the punches - literally!

As for the injuries? According to the organizers, beyond the usual scrapes, grazes and bruises, there were just a few. One contestant suffered a broken ankle, while another, dislocated a shoulder. The most serious one was incurred by the women's second place winner, Lacey Matthews, who sustained a broken neck. While something that serious may deter any other contestant, Matthews reportedly said that she could not wait to return in 2015 and try win the coveted cheese wheel!

A Vegetable Garden On The Moon? NASA Certainly Hopes So

If astronauts have any plans of staying on the moon for extended periods of time, they will have to be self-sustaining. One of the most important steps toward achieving that will be growing their own food. That is the reason NASA scientists recently announced plans to test, growing a vegetable garden on the lunar surface.

This of course will not be a conventional garden with astronauts physically planting seeds on the rocky surface and hoping for the best. Instead, the scientists will place the seeds on a nutrient-infused filter and encase them inside a Lunar Plant Growth Chamber that will shield them against solar radiation. Once the garden lands on the moon, sufficient water will be added to ensure the seeds can thrive. There will also be enough air trapped in to allow for 5-10 days of growth. This will give scientists sufficient time to observe germination, which is the main focus of this inaugural live sciences experiment being conducted in another world.

So what treats are in store for the astronauts if the experiment works? Turnips, basil and Arabidopsis, a little white flowering plant that is similar to cress! Robert Bowman, a senior scientist with Lockheed Martin who is working with the NASA Ames Research Center on this project, says these were selected because they are important crop plants. Additionally, basil has been grown successfully many times on the International Space Station. This gives researchers hope that it might thrive on the moon as well.

NASA hopes to send the secured 1kg (2.2lbs) habitat to the moon in 2015 aboard the 'Moon Express', one of the entrants of the Google Lunar Lander XCHALLENGE. Announced in 2007, the competition that has challenged private companies to develop and land a robotic spacecraft safely on the moon prior to December 31st, 2015, comes with a promise of $30 million USD - The largest incentive based prize ever!

Iron Shoes - The New Trend In Fitness Wear?

While most of the world is out seeking the lightest athletic shoe available, one Chinese man is heading the other way. Zhang Fuxing believes that the heavier the shoe, the better it is for the body. To prove it, he exercises in iron shoes that each weigh an astounding 200kg (440 lbs)!

The 52-year-old resident of Tangshan in Northern China's Hebei Province, says he began wearing the iron shoes about seven years ago, after seeing themrecommended on television as an effective way to maintain strong bones and a healthy heart. Suffering from a bad back, he decided to give it a try and began with relatively lightweight shoes - Ones that weighed a mere 70 kg (154 lbs) each! As he became stronger, he added more iron and now sports shoes that are 40-cm high and weigh about seven times his body weight. And he is not done yet - The iron'shoe' man plans to add an additional 50kg (110lbs), by next Spring.

During his daily 20-minute exercise 'waddle' Zhang manages to cover several meters. Though that may not sound like much, it is quite remarkable given that most people cannot even lift the shoes, let alone walk in them. The Chinese man is soconvinced of the healing powers of the iron shoes that he has started manufacturing them at a small factory near his house.

The shoes that strap on to the owner's existing footwear and weigh from 10kg (22lbs) all the way up to 60kg (132lbs) each, retail for between $90 USD to $238 USD. Zhang asserts that he has sold over 100 pairs - ten to neighbors who gather to watch him exercise every day and the rest, to people online! The one thing he doesn't divulge however, is how he makes the deliveries!

Resources: scmp.com, odditycentral.com

Christmas Comes Early For Some Lucky WestJet Passengers

While most of us are still keeping our fingers crossed that Santa will deliver at least a few items from our extensive wish lists, the lucky passengers of two recent WestJet flights have already had one of their requests fulfilled.

To celebrate the holiday season, earlier this month, the Canadian airline set up a special screen near the entrance of the boarding area at the Hamilton and Torontoairports. They then selected two flights, both heading to Calgary, and asked passengers to scan their boarding passes if they wished to talk to a virtual Santa.

While some ignored it thinking it was a just a ploy to keep them entertained, others did exactly that and asked the 'Ho Ho Hoing' Santa for all kinds of things ranging from a Choo-Choo train to socks and underwear to even a large screen television. The 250 passengers then settled into their respective airplanes and promptly forgot about the whole incident.

You can only imagine their surprise when they landed in Calgary five hours later, and found exactly what they had asked for, coming down a special baggagecarousel. Turns out that while the passengers were flying to their destination, the staff at the discount airline's Calgary office had been frantically shopping, to get their wishes fulfilled! The only unfortunate part? Those that had not checked in any luggage lost out on their requests because they never made it to the area. But they can take heart in the fact that the unclaimed gifts were donated to charity.

The best part is that the company had placed 19 cameras at strategic locations so that the passenger reactions could be filmed and seen by the entire world. And just to show they appreciated the heart-warming response they have received from the millions of fans worldwide, WestJet even donated a flight to a family in need when the YouTube video garnered 200,000 views.

This is not the first time WestJet has shared some holiday cheer with its customers. In 2012, they organized a flash mob of 150 volunteers who performed a jolly dance for some weary passengers waiting to board a red-eye flight and then had Santa hand out stockings that were stuffed with the latest iPods!

Resources: Huffingtonpost.com, LAtimes.com

Oh No! It's Friday The 13th . . . Again!

Today is Friday the 13th, the second and last one that we will have to encounter in 2013! While to most of us it signifies the start of another carefree weekend, there are some people that consider today to be extremely unlucky. As you probably know, the number 13 has a bad reputation to begin with. This is the reason many office and residential towers often skip the 13th floor altogether. However, when that date falls on a Friday, the fear factor seems to escalate to a whole new level.

So how bad is it? About 20 million Americans and probably scores more worldwide, are believed to suffer from an irrational fear of this day. Known asfriggatriskaidekaphobiacs (derived from the words frigg, the Norse goddess whom Friday is named after and triskaidekaphobia, the irrational fear of the number 13),their symptoms range from mild anxiety to nagging fears that something bad is about to happen, to full-blown panic attacks.

Many that suffer from this phobiahappen to be employed in professions like construction or ship building, which are fraughtwith injury risk. That may explain the reason they get nervous and fear that their chances of getting hurt are exacerbated when the 13th happens to fall on a Friday.

While nobody is sure why the combination of this date and day evokes such dread, there a few theories. Some believe that it begins with the irrational fear of the number 13 suffered by Triskaidekaphobiacs, regardless of what day it falls on. Again, the reason behind that totally confounds researchers. According to Thomas Fernsler, an associate policy scientist at the University of Delaware, it could be because people perceive 12 to be a complete number - there are 12 months in a year, 12 zodiac signs, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 apostles of Jesus . . . so on and so forth. Hence, the number right after that seems incomplete and therefore, deemed unlucky.

Folklore historian Donald Dorsey, traces the fear all the way back to ancient times, when the Vikings inhabitedScandinavia. 12 gods were having a dinner party at Valhalla, the Viking'smythological heaven. Suddenly, an uninvited '13th'guest, the mischievous god Loki walked in and instigatedHoder, the blind god of darkness to shoot Balder, the god of joy and gladness.

As for Friday? That happens to be rooted in ancientmythology and religion - Per the bible, Jesus was crucifiedon a Friday. Though the date is not believed to be the 13th, it was following the Last Supper, which happened to be attended by 13 men that included Judas Iscariot, the apostle that betrayed Jesus. Other biblical scholars maintain that this was the day when Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit - Again, the date is a little hazy. The one bad event that is believed to have happened on Friday the 13th, was the slaying of Abel by his brother Cain (The sons of Adam and Eve).

Experts estimate that businesses lose between $800-$900mm USD on this day because people avoid traveling, going to work and even, shopping!

Unfortunately since there is nological reason behind this fear, not much can be done toalleviate it. However,  Dr. Donald  Dossey at Asheville,North Carolina's Stress Management Center/Phobia institute believes she may have found a solution.

She recommends people living with this fear to learn how to pronounce the wordparaskevidekatriaphobia, the other term for the ailment. In her expert opinion, they will be cured the minute they are able to say it out loud, correctly. So go ahead, give it a try and let us know if it works!

Two Lucky Turkeys Trot Away From Cranberry Sauce And Stuffing!

While over 46 million turkeys are getting ready to take center stage at the dinner table this evening, two - Popcorn and his lucky spare, Caramel, are trotting away to George Washington's Mt. Vernon Estate and Gardens in Virginia, where they will impress visitors during the holidays, before moving to their permanent retirement home in Leesburg's Morven Park.

The fortunate toms that were hatched on July 8th, are part of a six-member Presidential flock chosen by fourth generation turkey farmer John Burkel, from about eighty contenders. Raised in the tiny town of Badger, Minnesota, they were selected as the finalists after they showed the calm demeanor required of birds that were going to be pardoned by the President of the United States of America.

However that was just the beginning - The two 20lbs gorgeous toms were then moved to a special heated garden shed that looked more like a Presidential cottage complete with patriotic bunting on the windows, to undergo special training. This involved exposing them to loud noises and bright lights, so that they would beunflappable on the big day, when surrounded with similar chaos.

All that training certainly paid off. Despite the cold & dreary weather and throngs of people cheering on, Popcorn, the tom chosen for the pardoning, stood calm and collected, as President Obama declared - "Popcorn, you have a full reprieve from cranberry sauce and stuffing. We wish you well".

Now in its 66th year, the turkey pardoning tradition is believed to have been started by President Truman. However, it was not until 1989, that George H. W. Bush established it as an annual White House ritual. Originally, the clemency was granted to only one bird. But after a naughty one named Liberty escaped before he could be pardoned by former President Ronald Reagan, there began a new tradition of bringing in a spare!

in 2012, President Obama added a fun twist, by asking the general public to vote on Facebook, which of the two turkeys should be picked for pardoning. This year, Popcorn won the votes by a slim margin! Not that it mattered to Caramel, who was also spared and just got to revel in the festivities, without the pressure!

Besides getting to visit the White House and meet the President, both turkeys were also treated to first class travel to Washington D.C. and two nights in a beautiful suite at the city's historic Willard Hotel, where they dined on acorns, berries and corn.

Following the ceremony, the two left for Virginia, where they will stay until January 6th, 2014, before moving to their permanent retirement home in Leesburg. We wish Popcorn and Caramel a long and healthy life. As for the rest of the birds? All we can say is GOBBLE GOBBLE!