clothing

Ever dreamed of having a personal communicator built right into your clothing, a la Star Trek? That dream might be closer to reality than you realized. Finnish company Patria Aviation Oy has spent the last 18 months bringing to life a flexible antenna that can be worn on the sleeve of your favorite shirt. With the support of the European Space Agency (ESA), Patria created a patch with personal communication and GPS tracking capabilities that could satisfy even those on the Starship Enterprise.

Anyone who's ever spilled a hot beverage in his or her lap will be happy to hear that chemists at the University of Minnesota have announced a scaldproof fabric.

Water-resistant fabric, of course, has already existed for some time -- but its impermeability applies only to cool liquids. Hot coffee, scalding soup, and other liquids above a certain temperature, on the other hand, seep right through water-resistant cloth.

Fashion and technology are not usually mentioned in the same breath. However, two different innovators in the world of fashion have blurred the boundaries between performance, art, environment, and technology with their avant-garde endeavors. We're not talking couture lab coats (...yet), but we are talking magically disappearing dresses, skirts that double as furniture, and British models that are naked faster than you can say macromolecule.

Wear the same 23-ounce jacket whether it's slightly cool or downright frosty outside: A new North Face coat becomes more than a third warmer when it's turned inside-out. Its versatility comes primarily from the way the insulation is sewn. The quilted squares on the metallic -- or cool -- side have small pockets at their edges. When worn on the outside, the pockets stretch open and allow air to flow in and out. When reversed, the jacket pushes the pockets together and traps air inside them, providing greater warmth.

The approach of flu season sends many people scurrying for vaccinations and vitamins. But what if you could avoid the flu and other viruses simply by getting dressed? That´s the idea behind two garments that are part of the "Glitterati" clothing line designed by Olivia Ong, a senior design major at Cornell University. The two-tone gold dress and metallic jacket made their debut at the Cornell Design League fashion show on April 21.