When wrinkle-free synthetic fabrics came on the market, the cotton growers needed an extra edge to stay competitive. Ruth Rogan Benerito came to their rescue. A pioneering woman in the field of chemistry, Benerito earned her bachelor’s degree in 1935 and went on to get a doctorate. While working at the Department of Agriculture, she developed the easy-care cotton process which resulted in a wrinkle-free fabric. This was only one of her numerous inventions. She holds 55 U.S. patents and was recently awarded the Lemelson-MIT Lifetime Achievement Award for Invention.

A team at the Tangible Media Group of MIT’s Media Lab has developed a cellular phone that transmits vibrations between callers. Made out of latex, their device has pressure sensors for your fingers to squeeze and tiny speakers to vibrate that squeeze to the person on the other end of the line. It’s almost like tin can and string phones all over again. I can’t imagine using it while conversing with a stranger, but it is an interesting advance in the world of electronic communications. You could probably cobble together something similar using software with the vibrating feedback gaming devices and mice that are already out there. Chatting with someone over the Internet could take on another dimension. Ouch! Stop that!

When is a credit card like a switchblade? Take a look at the new Discover 2GO card. The patent-pending design is making its first appearance on customer keychains this month, and is sure to raise the eyebrows of the person next in line, if not the cashier. The kidney-shaped card swings out from a protective cover and is designed for those folks who would like to leave the house with just their keys and a credit card. The obvious problem, however, is that common happening: the misplacing of keys. Most people lose their keys more often then their wallet. But this card is another front-runner, like American Express’ see-through card, in the trend of attracting credit card users with a style statement. Hmmm, does anyone make a credit card that you can personalize with your own artwork or photos? That would be a real winner! Maybe I should patent that idea. (Update: U.S. Patent 5,746,451 covers a “Customizable credit card overlay”)

The rise of insurance claims for mold damage is forcing State Farm to “temporarily”, “indefinitely” stop writing California homeowner’s policies on May 1st. Allstate is applying for 22% increase in rates. If you’re buying a house, don’t delay on getting insurance coverage.

The Museum of Dirt is… a museum of dirt. Behold the little vials of material gathered from places such as Martha Stewart’s Turkey Hill home, Watergate, B.F. Skinner’s Gravesite, and other places collectors have deemed worthy of sweeping up. Maybe your driveway is next. (via Growlers)

Yamaha has added a nylon string guitar to their line of “silent” instruments. It joins their Silent Violin, Cello, Bass, and Viola.

A group of scientists has hit upon an ingenious way to get funding for their research: “they have identified the brain region that becomes active as the shopper reaches to the supermarket shelf to make their final choice.” Seriously, though, these researchers from the U.K. have been using magnetic encephalography to identify the regions of the brain that are active when people make their shopping choices. These regions may be used in more important life decisions as well. But it’s not surprising to me that they picked an experiment that is likely to cause some interest among industries that can generate money from their findings. Will they one day discover how to turn every shopping choice into a “no brainer” decision?

The Covers Project uses a database of cover songs to create chains of cover songs. “A cover chain is a set of songs in which each song is a cover of a song by the band who covered the preceding song.” Another fun place to plow through for favorites. (via xBlog)

An exhibit of airline memorabilia is opening at the San Mateo County History Museum (note: that link resizes your browser window). It was the personal collection of John Hickey, whose wife donated it to the museum after his death in 1990. Swizzle sticks, posters, signs, Waterford glasses from the inaugural flight of the Concorde, and a multitude of wings, it’s all there. The items recall a time when taking a plane flight was a luxurious experience for all involved. I remember seeing similar items exhibited in the mezzanine at the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos.

Can you identify books from their first lines? The children’s books are especially fun. The categories definitely help a lot in narrowing things down. I don’t recall the exact first lines as much as I can remember names of characters or settings. If I had to recite first lines after being given a book title, I think I could only do one, “Tale of Two Cities”. And maybe certain versions of the Bible. (via Provenance Unknown)