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- Self-Cleaning Fabric
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- Jacob Adelman
John Xin, a researcher at Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Kowloon, is on the verge of a breakthrough that could revolutionize the textile industry: fabrics that clean themselves using nanotechnology. The key is a process called photocatalysis, which uses the sun's energy to vaporize dirt. This piece introduces the technology by bringing the listener into Xin's lab, and explains why it might sound familiar to fans of old Alec Guiness movies...
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Piece Description
John Xin, a researcher at Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Kowloon, is on the verge of a breakthrough that could revolutionize the textile industry: fabrics that clean themselves using nanotechnology. The key is a process called photocatalysis, which uses the sun's energy to vaporize dirt. This piece introduces the technology by bringing the listener into Xin's lab, and explains why it might sound familiar to fans of old Alec Guiness movies...
Transcript
Intro (not on tape):
When the noodle soup you're slurping splashes on your shirt, or the wine you've had a bit much of winds up in your lap, you're probably headed for the laundry. But maybe not for long -- if a chemist in Hong Kong is successful in his research.
Jacob Adelman tells why.
(SCRIPT 1)
In his laboratory at Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Kowloon, John Xin, a 41-year old Shanghai native, is on the verge of a breakthrough that could revolutionize the clothing industry.
ACT 1: Xin 1
IN: This is one…
OUT: what is inside.
TT: 0:08
This is one is our synthesis lab, you can come in and have a look at what is inside.
AMB 1: Lab (keep under)
ACT 2: Xin 2
IN: That is the film cover…
OUT: lot of tubes.
TT: 0:05
That is the film cover, you also see a lot of glasswares and a lot of tubes.
(SCRIPT 2)
But there are some familiar-looking bottles and jars alon...
Read the full transcript
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Lydia Wilson
Posted on July 06, 2005 at 05:26 AM | Permalink
Review of Self-Cleaning Fabric
Jacob takes us inside a lab at Hong Kong Polytechnic where researchers are creating self-cleaning fabric. The science behind the research is explained well by Adelman, who playfully blends sound from the lab and scientists with clips from "The Man in the White Suit." Disasterous eater and lover of wine that I am, I look forward to the day I see Xin's self-cleaning fabrics for sale and can exclaim "I heard about that on the radio!"