Bad Astronomy

Antismog and antiviral nanocoat

If this weren’t a Cornell University press release, I’d think it was a joke: using nanoparticles electrostatically placed on fabric fibers, a woman has created a (high fashion!) coat that can disable bacteria, viruses, and even oxidize smog, rendering it harmless.

MMMMMmmmmmm, shiny nanoparticle encrusted fibers manipulated to diffract light to make the material reflective and control the color.

I mean, wow. Cool! But there’s one problem: it’s on the pricey side, at $10,000 per square yard. But that’s only $1100 per square foot, or, lessee… eight and a half bucks a square inch. That’s about a dollar per square centimeter! A bargain!

Now if we could make one that would render creationists and global warming deniers harmless… Tip of the very tiny chapeau to Boing Boing.