On 11 March, the WHO declared the coronavirus a world-wide pandemic. All over the world people are asking: how can I protect myself? Textile researcher and biologist Dr. Anja Gerhardts explains how commercially available face masks work – and how they don’t. Ronny Eckert Read more...
People these days, who, instead of studying to be a lawyer, teacher or doctor, sign up for something to do with textiles, are not infrequently met with a perplexed shake of the head. “Textiles – isn’t that a bit of a dead subject?” – that it could hardly be more alive is clearly demonstrated by ... Read more...
Revolutionary ideas are just what we need – above all in science and technology. Air taxis are just as revolutionary as artificial intelligence, self-drive cars or Elon Musk’s pneumatic ‘tube post’ – that he calls the Hyperloop – for transporting people and goods. No less needed are ideas for ways of fishing plastics from the ... Read more...
Searing temperatures and a bone dry atmosphere – the summer of 2018 in Europe was intense. There are, however, countries, where drought is normal. Morocco, for instance. Because of climate change, it has now become so hot and dry there that what little water there is has become very scarce indeed. As a result, textile ... Read more...
Biting cold or extreme heat – humans are pretty delicate beings, who want to be protected against rough external impacts. How to minimise dangers posed by such extreme influences by using fibres, will be demonstrated by textile firms at the end of May at Techtextil North America in Atlanta, Georgia, at a special show entitled ... Read more...
Men do it, women, too. And, if they have been drinking, a few acres of forest are likely to have been sawn down – by their snoring. An inventor on the edge of the Swabian Alb region of southern Germany aims to put a stop to the nightly deforestation with a mixture of cold foam ... Read more...
Dust, microbes and microparticles are about as welcome in cleanrooms as a spot on your forehead just before a first date. Materials for these rooms, therefore, need to meet the highest standards of cleanliness. This also applies to technical textiles, as the Cleanzone cleanroom trade fair demonstrated in Frankfurt am Main in October. Ronny Eckert Read more...