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General Motors’ venture capital arm has invested in a California startup that’s making imitation leather from mushrooms. The material is made by MycoWorks using the root-like structures of mushrooms, called mycelia. It could provide an alternative to both traditional leather made from animal skins, usually cattle, and artificial leather made from plastics. The auto industry is the largest user of leather other than for shoes, according to 2015 data from International Council of Tanners. MycoWorks grows these threadlike mycelia into flexible, leather-like sheets. The resulting material feels like leather, has similar durability and can be colored using processes that do...

SEATTLE - June 5, 2014, 27-year-old Aaron Ybarra of Mountlake Terrace opened fire at Seattle Pacific University, killing one person. As Ybarra attempted to reload his gun he was pepper sprayed by a student security guard named Jon Meis. Police Departments should take a look at this as a training video, or at least to give them shame.

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian scientists have discovered pineapple molecules can act as powerful anti-cancer agents and said the research could lead to a new class of cancer-fighting drugs. Scientists at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) said their work centred on two molecules from bromelaine, an extract derived from crushed pineapple stems that is used to tenderise meat, clarify beers and tan hides. One of the molecules, CCZ, stimulates the body's immune system to target and kill cancer cells, the other, CCS, blocks a protein called Ras, which is defective in 30 percent of all cancers. QIMR researcher Tracey...

A team of paleontologists from the United States, Canada and Argentina has analyzed the fossilized eggs of two different non-avian dinosaurs, Protoceratops and Mussaurus, and found that the eggs resembled those of turtles in their microstructure, composition, and mechanical properties. They've also found that hard-shelled eggs evolved at least three times independently in the dinosaur family tree. For many years there was scant fossil evidence of dinosaur eggs, and all known examples were characterized by thick, calcified shells -- leading paleontologists to speculate that all dinosaur eggs were hard-shelled, like those of modern crocodiles and birds. "The assumption has always...

A unique car is for sale on one of the Russian classifieds websites. As the story goes the car was custom made for a famous rich person who died three months before the car was delivered to him.In fact this was a Toyota Crown, but it is so heavily modified you can’t recognize it anymore.The whole body is covered by Canadian buffalo leather, and inside there is Siberian weasel leather. Also sable fur is used to trim the seats. It’s being said that the sable fur is the most expensive fur in the world.The car was named “Amulet”According to the owner...

After long hours marching in the streets on behalf of women’s rights, men apparently kept the movement going by searching for “feminist” porn instead of old-fashioned, regular porn, when they got home. Newsweek reports PornHub’s data analysis found that after the Women’s March, people searched for two porn categories: “female-friendly” porn and “feminist” porn. According to the PornHub data page, searches for the word “feminist” increased by 287 percent on the day of the march. The results also claim men were 42 percent more likely to be searching for feminist porn than women, which means seeing women with signs about...

NEW YORK - Animal lovers will pay their respects to the bull that ran away from a Queens slaughterhouse and died Tuesday. A vigil is being held Wednesday night at the Aziz slaughterhouse on Beaver Road in Jamaica, where the bull escaped from. Bull Who Escaped from Queens Slaughterhouse Has Died Officers chased the bull through the streets for hours, shooting him with tranquilizers. He was eventually cornered at 158th street and 116th Avenue, nearly two miles away. The bull died while on its way to the Animal Care and Control Center in East New York, Brooklyn. The vigil begins...

Hillary Clinton showed her wild side at an LGBT event at SoHo's Capitale, where the presidential wannabe sported a leather jacket, boasted about her Democratic-leading campaign and ran a red light on her way out. Stars including Rosie O'Donnell, Billie Jean King and former Rep. Barney Frank — celebrating his 76th birthday — were all in the house as Hill went on a roll. "She told everyone, 'I have a million more votes than Donald, and oh, by the way, I have 2 1/2 million more than Bernie Sanders!" says an event insider. We're also told that the boo birds...

Judge Jeannine's wearing the youknowwhat out of some leather tonite.

(MSNBC) Forget San Francisco (18th) or New York (not even on the list) — the gayest city in the U.S. is Salt Lake City, Utah, according to The Advocate, the gay and lesbian newsmagazine. Rather than rely on the U.S. Census tabulation of gay and lesbian populations, which inevitably yield San Francisco as No. 1, The Advocate used different measures to establish “per capita queerness” — including a city’s number of teams entered in the Gay Softball World Series, gay bookstores, openly gay elected officials and semifinalists in the International Mr. Leather Contest...

Walter Edmund Bond was taken into custody Thursday in Denver after allegedly telling an informant that he started the Glendale fire and two fires in Utah because they were businesses that "profited from animals." At the time of his arrest by FBI and ATF agents, Bond was carrying a backpack, according to an affidavit by Rennie Mora, a special agent for the ATF. Agents searched the backpack and found literature titled, "The Declaration of War - Killing People to Save the Animals and the Environment - Strike a Match Light a Fuse We've Only Have the Earth to Lose." Bond...

Can any Freepers tell me how to stiffen too soft leather on the gun holster part of a shoulder holster? The too soft leather grabs the gun and makes it difficult to pull. Any ideas?

Actress Liv Tyler — Armageddon, Lord of the Rings, The Strangers — who started modeling at age 14, does the spokesmodel thing for the S/S 2010 G-Star Raw collection. G-Star, those delightful and innovative denim-nairs, who began making their jeans back in 1989, and have expanded into a wide range of apparel for both men and women, seem to do well in leather too. We dig their long women’s jackets, a perfect compliment to the Raw denim.

Coach Inc. (COH) is opening its first men's-only store as the retailer moves to extend its reach beyond traditional female customers. The store will be on trendy Bleecker Street in New York City's West Village, taking over space that was occupied by a Ruehl boutique that was closed as Abercrombie & Fitch Inc. (ANF) shuttered the concept last year. Coach, known for its leather handbags and accessories for women, wants to explore "a broader men's opportunity for the brand globally," said Mike Tucci, Coach's president of North America retail. Coach is also opening a few men's shops in department stores...

By Pumza Fihlani BBC News, Johannesburg South Africa's ruling African National Congress is leaving no stone unturned in its efforts to inspire a sense of "identity" in its members. Its latest venture? A range of leather jackets which fashion experts say should have never seen the light of day. The ANC colours of black, green and gold form the basis of the collection of 19 jackets for men and women. But the green and gold elements have been taken to neon extremes, which look as though they would glow in the dark.

Leather convention precedes inaugurationDecember 31, 2008 Those with a fetish for leather and motorcycles will in Washington the weekend before President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration, convention organizers say. The Centaur Motorcycle Club, a group of men with an enthusiastic interest in motorcycles, leather and other men, said the 25th annual Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend will take place Jan. 16, 17 and 18 -- overlapping with many inauguration-based parties and balls, ABC News reported Wednesday. **SNIP** Certainly many of our guests are happy about the inauguration and some people will be attending both, but for us we're celebrating what we normally celebrate --...

Yigal Azrouel, Balmain, Collette Dinnigan Fall/Winter ‘09When we saw the leather pants and leggings at the Givenchy, Balmain, and Alexander McQueen shows, it became clear that Eighties Goth is back.

Is there a problem with enjoying modern stylish fashionable furniture as a hobby? I have been advised that talking about cars around the office is far more acceptable and manly than talking about the modern sleek lines of furniture or the leather interior of a car is far tougher than talking about soft Italian leather from a perfectly handcrafted Italian leather Sofa / Masterpiece that sits in my loungeroom for me to admire that I purchased from Home Concepts in Melbourne. I would much prefer to go to a site like www.fivekings.com.au than carsales.com and does this mean I’m a...

The epitome of cool, the leather jacket is an edgy classic, and a must have of the fall wardrobe for women. Embrace the biker-couture style by donning an ultra-hip and extremely wearable statement bomber.