(editor's note: It's fabulous and it repels mosquitos! By imbedding mosquito repellant into net material, a Cornell scientist and an African designer have designed a hooded bodysuit that provides protection throughout the day, where most topical applications need to be frequently reapplied.
"Pentamode... pentamode..." A new class of material has been developed, and it's called pentamode metamaterial. By making a stable form of crystalline metafluid, this new material may be used for inaudibility cloaks and other wonderous acoustic applications.
In my daily treks through the news files of the world I'm amazed at the depth and scope of emerging science technologies! In the bigger picture of our changing world, we understand that these are stepping stones towards joining our Galactic community of scientists.
~All my Love, Boo)
African Designer and Scientist Fashion Anti-Malaria Garment That Wards Off Bugs
"The bond on our fabric is very difficult to break," said Frederick Ochanda, postdoctoral associate in Cornell's Department of Fiber Science & Apparel Design and a native of Kenya. "The nets in use now are dipped in a solution and not bonded in this way, so their effectiveness doesn't last very long."
The colorful garment, fashioned by Matilda Ceesay, a Cornell apparel design undergraduate from Gambia, debuted on the runway at the Cornell Fashion Collective spring fashion show April 28 on the Cornell campus. It consists of an underlying one-piece body suit, hand-dyed in vibrant hues of purple, gold and blue, and a mesh hood and cape containing the repellant. The outfit is one of six in Ceesay's collection, which she said "explores and modernizes traditional African silhouettes and textiles by embracing the strength and sexuality of the modern woman."
A Cornell University scientist and designer from Africa have together created a fashionable hooded bodysuit embedded at the molecular level with insecticides for warding off mosquitoes infected with malaria. The outfit debuted on the runway at the Cornell Fashion Collective spring fashion show, April 28. (Credit: Image courtesy of Cornell University)
New Material Class Developed: Pentamode Metamaterial
A research team lead by Professor Martin Wegener at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has succeeded in realizing a new material class through the manufacturing of a stable crystalline metafluid, a pentamode metamaterial. Using new nanostructuring methods, these materials can now be realized for the first time with any conceivable mechanical properties.
"Realizing a pentamode metamaterial is about as difficult as trying to build a scaffold from pins that must not touch but at their tips," first author Dr. Muamer Kadic explains. "The Karlsruhe prototype has been manufactured from a polymer. The mechanical behavior of the material is determined by the acuteness and length of the individual "sugar loaves." On the one hand, we must be capable of designing small sugar loaves in the nanometer range and connect them to one another at the right angle. On the other hand, the entire structure must eventually become as large as possible. Since the material itself contributes only little more than one percent to the respective volume, the composite obtained is extremely light.
