Posted on 09/18/2018 7:09:50 AM PDT by BenLurkin
There are three steps in making alga-based yarn...: First, a sugar called alginate is derived from kelp—a multicellular algal seaweed—and powdered. Next the alginate powder is turned into a water-based gel, to which plant-based color (such as carrot juice) is added. Finally, the gel is extruded into long strands of fiber that can be woven into a fabric.
... Materials scientists in China have noted that alga-based fibers are naturally fire-resistant, potentially reducing the need for adding toxic flame retardants to clothing.
Also, alga biodegrades faster than cotton—the most common natural clothing fiber—and growing it does not require pesticides or large areas of land. Schiros has used her fiber to knit items including a tank top she wore while delivering a TED Talk on sustainable fashion this year.
Schiros has also explored using bacteria to grow clothing materials; in 2017 some of her students grew a baby-size pair of moccasins from a liquid bacteria culture, fungi and compostable waste. The bacteria grew into a fibrous mat of “bio-leather” that eventually filled a shoe-shaped mold to form a complete piece of footwear, which the students stitched together with fibers pulled from discarded pineapple tops obtained from a smoothie shop down the street. Later they made dyes from avocado seeds and indigo leaves to color the shoes, and embedded carrot seeds in them before drying them.
... It also reduces textile scraps, she notes, adding that because the shoes are biodegradable and contain seeds “you can plant them right in the ground when your baby outgrows them to start cultivating their next pair of shoes.” Her students (who called themselves “Team #GROWAPAIR”) debuted their creation at last year’s Biodesign Challenge Summit, a bioengineering competition for college students held at MoMA—The Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
(Excerpt) Read more at scientificamerican.com ...
So...leather?
Cotton?
So Cotton?
Will any of it be impervious to the nude bomb?
Those were the days, my FRiend….
Silk?.................
Sounds like we may need a project to develop "Super Desenex" to counter the future athlete's foot that will result.
I’ll let the liberal nutcases try it out first.
The good news is this means more of the good clothing for me.
Movies used to be fun.
Any rashes reported yet by the testers?
Sheesh! The ideas supposedly educated, smart people come up with.
Plastic Bags was invented to save trees: now tons of plastic in our oceans
CFL light bulbs to save energy saving the environment: Lots of mercury in our land fields leaking into our drinking water
Wonder what the results of Biodegradable Textiles from Live Organisms be: maybe a killer virus
like silk?
Might work well. Imagine being on a hot date and you clothing gets too warm and dissolves on both parties.
Either that or you Halloween costume takes over you body.
Cotton, wool, silk, linen, burlap, leather.
How to wear botulism as a shirt...
Killer mold. Attaches to your skin and then covers it over like a thick coat of sealant
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