https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Scientists have identified the molecular interactions that give spider silk its exceptional strength and flexibility, opening the door to new bio-inspired materials for aircraft, protective clothing and medical applications, and even advancing our understanding of neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-amino-acid-stickers-decode-spider.html Plants & Animals Fri, 06 Feb 2026 07:00:01 EST news689573056 We all know dogs can struggle in warm weather, but what about when the temperature plummets, the wind whistles and snow falls? https://phys.org/news/2024-11-dog-benefit-canine.html Veterinary medicine Sat, 30 Nov 2024 10:50:01 EST news652088794 A team of researchers led by an archaeologist at the University of Sydney are the first to suggest that eyed needles were a new technological innovation used to adorn clothing for social and cultural purposes, marking the major shift from clothes as protection to clothes as an expression of identity. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-fashion-paleolithic-eyed-needles-evolution.html Archaeology Fri, 28 Jun 2024 14:00:01 EDT news638772401 A pair of new University of Alberta studies show how to make firefighters' clothing safer to wear, maintain and manufacture. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-firefighters-safer.html Polymers Mon, 27 May 2024 13:30:10 EDT news636035407 When you go running in the woods in your running tights, elastane is the reason they fit you so comfortably. Elastane is an elastic material that allows the fabric to stretch and adapt to your body. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-scientists-technology-recycle-simply.html Analytical Chemistry Fri, 12 Jan 2024 14:14:23 EST news624291260 Between 6,500 and 87,000 tons of microfibers are shed during domestic laundering every year in the UK. Many of these minuscule fibers end up in rivers and oceans, with devastating consequences for aquatic animals and environments. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-laundry-microfibers-machine-washingnew.html Environment Tue, 24 Oct 2023 13:50:22 EDT news617374219 Cotton is the most widely used natural fiber for clothes. But how polluting are our jeans and shirts actually? Environmental scientist Laura Scherer has coordinated an international research project on the impacts of cotton. The study is published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-environmental-scientist-international-impacts-cotton.html Environment Tue, 05 Sep 2023 10:38:36 EDT news613129053 A team of researchers at the Harbin Institute of Technology, in China, working with a colleague in the U.S., has developed a new kind of aerogel for use in flexible thermal insulation material applications. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the group describes how they made their aerogel and how well it worked when extreme heat was applied. https://phys.org/news/2022-07-ceramic-aerogel-nanocrystals-embedded-matrix.html Analytical Chemistry Fri, 01 Jul 2022 11:30:02 EDT news575891697 What psychological factors make us act green? Classic scientific models identified the psychological predictors of pro-environment behavior, like our attitudes and personal norms. A new study now questions the link between these predictors and actual environmental impact for clothing. The study exposes a strong gap between our motivation to act green and the impact of our clothing consumption. This study could influence how we measure pro-environmental behavior and design communications and interventions. The results are published in Nature Sustainability. https://phys.org/news/2022-05-strong-gap-green-impact-consumption.html Social Sciences Mon, 30 May 2022 09:20:20 EDT news573121217 Scientists at the University of St Andrews have finally proved what every discerning fashionista knows—a person's complexion determines the color of clothing that suits them. https://phys.org/news/2021-11-complexion-basis-aesthetics-choices.html Social Sciences Wed, 17 Nov 2021 09:07:24 EST news556362439 There's no need to don uncomfortable smartwatches or chest straps to monitor your heart if your comfy shirt can do a better job.  https://phys.org/news/2021-08-flexible-carbon-nanotube-fibers-woven.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 30 Aug 2021 12:41:11 EDT news549546063 Purdue University engineers have developed a method to transform existing cloth items into battery-free wearables resistant to laundry. These smart clothes are powered wirelessly through a flexible, silk-based coil sewn on the textile. https://phys.org/news/2021-06-wearables-future-washable-smart-powered.html Nanophysics Wed, 09 Jun 2021 14:11:33 EDT news542466667 People perceive a person's competence partly based on subtle economic cues emanating from the person's clothing, according to a study published in Nature Human Behaviour by Princeton University. These judgments are made in a matter of milliseconds, and are very hard to avoid. https://phys.org/news/2019-12-eyes.html Social Sciences Mon, 09 Dec 2019 12:13:24 EST news495115967 Professor Robert Speight and Dr. Laura Navone found that a commercial enzyme dissolves wool fibres from polyester and wool mix fabrics, without damaging the polyester strands. https://phys.org/news/2019-11-enzyme-discovery-tonnes-polyester-landfill.html Environment Fri, 29 Nov 2019 09:27:47 EST news494242061 The overabundance of fast fashion—readily available, inexpensively made clothing—has created an environmental and social justice crisis, claims a new paper from an expert on environmental health at Washington University in St. Louis. https://phys.org/news/2019-01-fast-fashion-environment-workers-society.html Environment Thu, 10 Jan 2019 08:43:29 EST news466332204 Like a yoga novice, electronic components don't stretch easily. But that's changing thanks to a variation of origami that involves cutting folded pieces of paper. https://phys.org/news/2018-04-ancient-paper-art-kirigami-poised.html Nanomaterials Tue, 03 Apr 2018 12:02:58 EDT news441975770 A team of researchers with members from the University of Hawaii, the Unilever company and Princeton University has found that the critical factor involved in cleaning clothes in a washing machine is a phenomenon called diffusiophoresis, a type of diffusion caused by electric fields, combined with chemophoresis, diffusion caused by differences in concentration gradients. They have published their findings in the journal Physical Review Letters. https://phys.org/news/2018-03-diffusiophoresis-critical-factor.html General Physics Fri, 23 Mar 2018 08:30:01 EDT news441007697 Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) have developed technology to digitally capture clothing on moving people, turn it into a 3-D digital form, and dress virtual avatars with it. This new technology makes virtual clothing try-on practical. https://phys.org/news/2017-08-virtual-avatars-digitally-captured.html Software Wed, 02 Aug 2017 07:21:39 EDT news420877264 Japanese designer Yuima Nakazato claimed Wednesday that he has cracked a digital technique which could revolutionise fashion with mass made-to-measure clothes. https://phys.org/news/2017-07-custom-made.html Engineering Wed, 05 Jul 2017 15:38:46 EDT news418487910 The 5,300-year-old Alpine mummy known as the Tyrolean Iceman died wearing leather clothes and accessories harvested from no less than five wild or domesticated species, a DNA analysis published Thursday revealed. https://phys.org/news/2016-08-ancient-iceman-wore-hat-skin.html Archaeology Thu, 18 Aug 2016 11:35:14 EDT news390738904 The team, led by the University of Cambridge, have invented a way to make such sheets on industrial scales, opening up applications ranging from smart clothing for people or buildings, to banknote security. https://phys.org/news/2016-06-opal-like-mile.html Materials Science Fri, 03 Jun 2016 07:06:33 EDT news384156379 (Phys.org)—By wearing clothes that have been dip-coated in a silver nanowire (AgNW) solution that is highly radiation-insulating, a person may stay so warm in the winter that they can greatly reduce or even eliminate their need for heating their home. Considering that 47% of global energy is spent on indoor heating, and 42% of that specifically for residential heating, such highly insulating clothing could potentially have huge cost savings. https://phys.org/news/2015-01-super-insulated-indoor.html Nanophysics Thu, 08 Jan 2015 09:20:01 EST news339918353 To stay warm when temperatures drop outside, we heat our indoor spaces—even when no one is in them. But scientists have now developed a novel nanowire coating for clothes that can both generate heat and trap the heat from our bodies better than regular clothes. They report on their technology, which could help us reduce our reliance on conventional energy sources, in the ACS journal Nano Letters. https://phys.org/news/2015-01-nanowire-people-warmwithout.html Nanophysics Wed, 07 Jan 2015 10:36:26 EST news339849377 (Phys.org) —Textile solar cells are an ideal power source for small electronic devices incorporated into clothing. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, Chinese scientists have now introduced novel solar cells in the form of fibers that can be woven into a textile. The flexible, coaxial cells are based on a perovskite material and carbon nanotubes; they stand out due to their excellent energy conversion efficiency of 3.3 % and their low production cost. https://phys.org/news/2014-08-inexpensive-flexible-fiber-perovskite-solar.html Nanomaterials Mon, 04 Aug 2014 07:21:15 EDT news326355661 Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered that some compounds called polyoxoniobates can degrade and decontaminate nerve agents such as the deadly sarin gas, and have other characteristics that may make them ideal for protective suits, masks or other clothing. https://phys.org/news/2014-05-method-chemical-weapons.html Materials Science Tue, 27 May 2014 13:23:52 EDT news320415819 (Phys.org) —One blessing of the Internet: shopping conveniently online for clothes. One curse of the Internet: shopping conveniently online for clothes. https://phys.org/news/2014-04-students-virtual-room-online-shoppers.html Hi Tech & Innovation Tue, 22 Apr 2014 07:15:22 EDT news317369700 (Phys.org) —Waterproof fabrics that whisk away sweat could be the latest application of microfluidic technology developed by bioengineers at the University of California, Davis. https://phys.org/news/2013-05-non-wetting-fabric.html Materials Science Mon, 20 May 2013 16:20:06 EDT news288284578 Asbestos was once called a miracle material because of its toughness and fire-resistant properties. It was used as insulation, incorporated into cement and even woven into firemen's protective clothing. Over time, however, scientists pinned the cause of lung cancers such as mesothelioma on asbestos fiber inhalation. Asbestos was banned in the many industrialized countries in the 1980s, but the threat lingers on in the ceilings, walls and floors of old buildings and homes. Now a team of researchers from the University of Hertfordshire in the U.K. has developed and tested the first portable, real-time airborne asbestos detector. They hope that the prototype, described in a paper published today in the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal Optics Express, will be commercialized in the U.K. in the next few years, providing roofers, plumbers, electricians and other workers in commercial and residential buildings with an affordable way to quickly identify if they have inadvertently disturbed asbestos fibers into the air. https://phys.org/news/2013-05-on-site-asbestos-detector-workplace-safety.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 02 May 2013 11:36:29 EDT news286713380 (Phys.org)—Rice University's latest nanotechnology breakthrough was more than 10 years in the making, but it still came with a shock. Scientists from Rice, the Dutch firm Teijin Aramid, the U.S. Air Force and Israel's Technion Institute this week unveiled a new carbon nanotube (CNT) fiber that looks and acts like textile thread and conducts electricity and heat like a metal wire. In this week's issue of Science, the researchers describe an industrially scalable process for making the threadlike fibers, which outperform commercially available high-performance materials in a number of ways. https://phys.org/news/2013-01-nanotube-fibers-unmatched-combination-strength.html Nanomaterials Thu, 10 Jan 2013 14:00:16 EST news277045442 A private company successfully delivered a half-ton of supplies to the International Space Station early Wednesday, the first official shipment under a billion-dollar contract with NASA. https://phys.org/news/2012-10-spacex-dragon-capsule-space-station_1.html Space Exploration Wed, 10 Oct 2012 09:57:03 EDT news269071824