The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) obtains data about the evolution of the universe and elements in the polar atmosphere using scientific balloons made of polyethylene film as thin as sandwich wrap, filled with the same helium used in party balloons. New developments in balloon materials, however, helped NASA launch a mission in Antarctica [...]

As summer approaches and outdoor bars, restaurants, pools and beaches gear up for fun in the sun, nothing gets attention like a comfortable chair made of fabric printed with color custom advertising. Tex Visions, Carlisle, Pa., manufacturer of display hardware and custom textile printing, recently introduced a line of comfortable natural beechwood collapsible chairs with [...]

Soundforms brings indoor acoustics to outdoor band shells Light-filled summer days and starry nights bring outdoor music events to parks and playgrounds, where tuneful performances float over audiences lazing on blankets and lawn chairs. One drawback to these idyllic outdoor concerts is sound quality, which is often unpredictable, diffuse and out-of-sync when channeled through multipurpose [...]

The World Health Organization estimates that more than one billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and energy-intensive purification technologies (such as reverse osmosis membranes) use an estimated $10.96 in oil to produce 264 gallons of clean water. A simple, solar-powered panel made with a viscose nonwoven fabric, Galaxy®, may revolutionize water purification in [...]

In 2010, the U.S. and European Union produced approximately 15 million tons of textile waste, including an estimated 1 million tons of nylon 6, used in various polymers and yarns. The Aquafil Group, Arco, Italy, introduced the Econyl® processing project in 2011, and in its first two years has recovered 16,000 tons of post-consumer waste [...]

The city of St. Louis Park, Minn., commissioned artist Randy Walker to create an outdoor sculpture derived from the city’s historic Peavey Haglin grain elevator, an 1899 experimental circular concrete grain-storage facility. Walker’s installations feature rich networks of string or yarn that use color and space to create depth and movement. Walker’s creation, “Dream Elevator,” [...]

In February 2013, a group of leading home textile retailers and manufacturers (including Target and Williams-Sonoma) launched the Sustainable Textile Coalition, an initiative to lead the industry toward greater sustainability. The mission is to build a shared vision of sustainability and a common approach for measuring and evaluating textile product sustainability performance. The Sustainable Apparel [...]

AMSilk, a spin-off company using research developed at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM), Munich, Germany, has produced artificial silk fibers entirely made of recombinant spider silk proteins. Prototypes of the fiber, named Biosteel® for its formidable tensile strength, are smooth to the touch, shine like silk and are brilliant white (but can be dyed with [...]

A combination of chitosan (derived from crustacean shells) and dendrimer nanostructure produces a bioadsorbent that has been shown to be very effective in removing dye from textile wastewater, according to researchers at the Amirkabir University of Technology and the Institute for Color Science and Technology in Tehran, Iran. Parameters that affect the dye-removal process include [...]

In a move to build capacity and employment in the textile sector, the Government of India has sanctioned 21 new textile parks. These parks are planned centers for textile production, and will include all facets of the industry, including spinning, weaving, knitting, processing and garment manufacture. India’s Minister of Textiles, Anand Sharma, predicts that the [...]