Taking Cold Shower Boosts Immunity, Relieves Stress

The benefits of taking shower in cold water include improved immunity and circulation, stress relief, alertness and mental clarity – but is that enough to convince you to partake in a flow of cold water each morning? The case for icy showers has once again been buoyed by a recent study carried out in The Netherlands. It suggests that participants who had a cold blast at the end of their shower recovered more quickly from illnesses, and took fewer days off work, than those who had regular showers. Out of the study’s 3,000 participants, two thirds chose to continue having cold showers and reported that it boosted their energy levels as much as a strong cup of coffee. There’s also evidence that stepping into chill water can make you feel more mentally alert; as a result of the shock you begin to breathe more deeply which boost your heart rate, increases circulation and releases endorphins.

This Invisible TV Is Just A Glass Pane When Switched Off

At first glance, it looks like a glass pane in a sliding door, but at the flick of a switch a television screen instantly appears. Turn the TV panel off, and it’s hard to tell if it was ever there to begin with. The sci-fi style googlebox was first revealed by Japanese electronics company Panasonic at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show in January. It has since been updated and refined. The makers of the gadget said they had swapped the LED screen for a new OLED display that doesn’t need a backlight that doesn’t need a backlight to give it a picture. Since then, the Japanese company has embedded the screen into the front of a cabinet and has also improved the image to where it is “almost indistinguishable from existing televisions”.

The screen looks like an ordinary sheet of glass until it’s turned on and the high definition picture shimmers into view. The OLED screen is made from a fine mesh, embedded into the glass sliding door. While the TV image is visible even with the backlight on, once it’s dimmed the image is clear and bright enough to be almost indistinguishable from existing televisions. While not in use, consumers can see the vases and statues that sit behind the television on the shelves. The TV is still a prototype, and is unlikely to be available for at least three years, according to a Panasonic spokesperson. Panasonic isn’t the only company that’s experimenting with futuristic TVs. LG has a screen that rolls up like a newspaper.

Bikers May Get Airbag Helmets For Extra Cover

Airbag helmets may reduce impact of a crash by six fold compared to traditional bike helmets, drop tests from a height of two metres have shown. Foam helmets can and have been proven to reduce the likelihood of skull fracture and severe brain injury. But, many falsely believe that a bike helmet is there to protect against a concussion. Researchers tested a new type of helmet that comes in a soft pocket worn around the neck. It pops up, like an air bag, around a person’s head when it senses a potential collision. Researcher said that the large size of the airbag helmet, compared to foam bike helmets, was the likely source of its success. Being larger, it can also be softer, allowing for a more cushioned fall. However, this cushioning also has a potential downside. In the testing, the airbag helmet was pre-inflated and the researchers maximized the pressure of the air inside the helmet before each drop in order to get these results.

Solar-Powered Dress To Charge Phone

Every hour your smartphone is idle in your pocket or bag, the sun is bathing the earth in enough energy to run the world economy for a year. The obvious fix here is to turn every square inch of your body into a power plant – solar power could be the ultimate accessory, more important than purses or satchels. On 5 October, a team of researchers said they developed a fabric that was made from cotton and two electronic fibers. One fiber generates power from sunlight, and the other, called a “fiber super capacitor”, stores the electrons and provides current, like a battery. The scientists said their fiber could withstand the bending, twisting and wrapping normal to industrial weaving.

Fixing rips in the fabric isn’t as easy as ironing on a new patch – connecting a new swatch into a garment represents a “delicate sewing process”. The new material has been tested at light intensities between 70% and 120% of the sun’s average, and works in natural and artificial light, according to researchers. The new technique can let them weave solar fibers and power storage into “many possible patterns and tailor them into any designed shape without losing their performance”. On the flipside, the wired fabric isn’t waterproof. The sun doesn’t always shine, making it only intermittent fuel. In summer, people wear sleeveless shirts and shorts. This means less surface area and less power.