Liquid condom

The new “liquid condom” developed by the scientists will not only empower women by aiding in controlling their pregnancy without their partner’s permission it will also protect them from sexually transmitted diseases including HIV.

The new contraceptive gel can trap semen as well as any particles wider than 50 nanometres, which include the HIV, herpes and papilloma viruses.

The new "molecular condom" gel changes in response to changes in pH - acidity or alkalinity - in the vagina caused by the introduction of semen during sex.

It remains in liquid form while in contact with acidity levels normally found in the vagina but it turns into semisolid when it encounters semen which his alkaline, forming a mesh of "crosslinked" molecules.

Lead researcher, Patrick Kiser, and assistant professor at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City says that the chemical bonds between the two polymers constantly attach and detach at normal, acidic vaginal pHs of about 4.8, allowing the gel to flow. But at a pH of 7.6 - the slightly alkaline condition when semen enters the vagina - the PBA and SHA polymers "crosslink" and stick tightly together.

Creative Hotel concepts

Capsule hotel

The Capsule Inn Akihabara is an unique hotel expereince only available in Japan.
The two-square-meter sleep modules are equipped with a TV, Radio and Wireless LAN and are priced at 3500 yen per night. Uptil recently it has mainly been the office workers who stay at such tube hotels when they cannot go home, but recently they are attracting many foreign travellers due to their Japanese style.

Vampire Hotel Room with Coffins

The Propeller Island City Lodge in Berlin, Germany, much like the Kunsthotel in the same city, is a gallery-like hotel. Its 31 rooms are named, not numbered, according to their design theme. At the lodge, you can choose to sleep in a coffin, a castle bed, or perhaps a strikingly orange room. Equally unique are rooms with slanted floors, wave-like walls, and caged beds. More like a mind trip than a vacation stay, the City Lodge is best suited for travelers who prefer a bit of adventure.

Undersea Hotel

Private islands are not only suitable for resort development, they are also ideal for undersea development. Since many islands are surrounded by rich coral reefs inhabited by millions of species of flora and fauna private islands make the ideal location for the development of an undersea resort. This is exactly what is happening at a coral atoll in Fiji. Poseidon Undersea Resort is slated to become the worlds first luxury underwater resort when it opens in 2010. The resort which will feature a variety of undersea suites and island villas will offer luxury accomadations for its adventure seeking tourists. The Poseidon Resort is designed to resemble a pod like structure and manufactured to maximize views of the surrounding ocean landscape.

Drain Pipes Hotel

Dasparkhotel is an experimental hotel in Austria which was converted into hotel rooms from drain pipes. Each room has - full headroom, double bed, storage, light, power, woolly blanket and light cotton sleeping bag. All other hostelry devices (Toilets, showers, minibar, cafe, etc) are supplied by the surrounding public space. Costs are very flexible. They offer "pay as you wish" system where customers leave a Euro amount that they can afford and with which they wish to support the project.

Ice Hotel

An ice hotel is a temporary hotel made up entirely of snow and sculpted blocks of ice. They are promoted by their sponsors and have special features for travelers who are interested in novelties and unusual environments, and thus are in the class of destination hotels. Their lobbies are often filled with ice sculptures. If cold weather is your thing, then bundle up and enjoy a stay at the IceHotel in Sweden. Made up of over 6,000 square feet of ice and snow, it's the largest - and the original - ice hotel in the world. Guests sleep in a thermal sleeping bag on a special bed built of snow and ice, on reindeer skins. In the morning, a cup of hot lingonberry juice is brought to their bedside. After enjoying a "good" night's sleep on a bed of snow, that morning delivery should be quite a delight. With an average temperature of 17 degrees Fahrenheit, bring lots of layers, or just visit the Absolut ICE bar and drink some vodka to stay toasty - in more ways than one.

The Old Jail Hotel

This is about as close to sleeping in a prison as you'd probably want to get, The only change is to alter the cell door locks so you can actually let yourself out.

Style Perceptions Interview: Toast with Charmalade

Today our style perceptions series continues with the lovely blogger Charmalade of Toast with Charmalade.  She says that in spite of "the title 'Toast with Charmalade,' my blog doesn't have a lot to do with toast. Don't get me wrong, toast is delicious in its crunchy golden warm goodness. But my blog is a place where fashion, music, art, design, and other random bits of culture floating around the internet find each other in what I hope to be deemed as harmony (to quote the immortal words from Princess Bride, it's a "mawwiage that bwings them togethah"). Though this blog started late this December, I've been awed and inspired by a wide array of fashion bloggers for the past year or so. And like so many others before and after me, I finally decided to bite the bullet and set forth with my own little perspective."  She takes inspiration from the blogging community and tries to be authentic if not unique.  Charmalade remarks that blogging perspective is like a "Jean-Luc Godard quote my friend showed me: "It's not where you take things from-- it's where you take them to." My blog is a place where a certain dorky design student from a small college town in Midwest America can feel both glamorous and silly while geeking out to fashion and Lady Gaga. I hope that other bloggers and readers can share in the fun too."  

So, without further ado, here is Charmalade's take on the professartorial.

What do you notice about what your professors/teachers are wearing?  Do you and your peers ever discuss the fashion choices of your professors?
To be quite honest, I don't usually take keen notice of what my professors are wearing, unless it's anything particularly off the typical radar. I think that what the instructor wears is half the deal; the other half is presence. A professor could be wearing a crisp three-piece suit and tie, but if he mumbles and shuffles around, then I won't pay attention. Though admittedly, there aren't many mumbling, shuffling men in three-piece suits. As for discussion, the only time my classmates and I have talked about our professor's wardrobe is when my literature professor walked in with a Droopy tie. That was pretty cool, I can't lie. 

What kinds of attire do you think are appropriate for professors to wear when they're teaching? Is there anything that you really don't like to see your professors wearing?  How would you feel about a female professor wearing shorts over tights?  How would you feel about a professor wearing sweatpants or a tracksuit? 
I definitely think Indiana Jones got it right with the tweed suit with elbow pads. In all honesty, I think most people are in agreement that the professors should take time to at least dress up business casual. Though I had this one professor who seemed to have a whole wardrobe full of tight t-shirts reminiscent of Dr. Cox from Scrubs (admittedly, I didn't mind too much...) As for shorts over tights for female professors, I think that I would be taken aback a bit. I'd think that that type of casual outfit would be more fitting for a TA, but I'd give kudos for her style. When I think sweatpants and tracksuits, I think gold jewelry and hairy mustaches-- then I'm out the door. Only figuratively, because I wouldn't want to fail that class.

In what ways do the dress and style of your professors impact the way you respond to them?  Do you automatically respect an instructor more if s/he is well-dressed?  Does an instructor's attire make him/her more approachable/less approachable?   
I think it's a subconscious trigger in the mind that you'd feel more comfortable or feel like you can relate to an instructor if he or she dresses in a similar style as you. This doesn't always translate into respect, but then again, that's where presence would play a part. However, I don't think that dressing well and approachability are always correlated; there was this one instructor who I thought had a really great, chic style, but I was still a little intimidated by her because I wasn't doing so great in the class. It all depends.

How would you react if you discovered that a style blogger was your professor?  
If he/she's (most likely she) a style blogger that I follow, then I would start fangirling the minute I walked in the room! My mind would probably run along the lines of "omgomgomgomgomgnoway." Any friend of mine who'd be unfortunate enough to be in my class would never hear the end of it. I would scheme various plans how to get an autograph, a picture, etc. but I'd probably end up shyly going up after class and gushing in so many words about how I admire the blogger-turned-professor's style and aesthetic. Oh, the shame.

A big thank you to Charmalade for participating in this series!  If you haven't checked out Toast with Charmalade, you should!