/oss/taxonomy/term/2081/all en /oss/article/technology/getting-stoned <p>Ever wonder about how that stone washed effect is achieved on blue jeans?  By washing with stones, that's how.  The fabric is placed into large industrial washing machines together with volcanic rocks.  The rocks rub against the surface, abrading some of the cotton yarn.  Since the fibers used to make jeans are dyed only on the surface with indigo, the undyed white cotton begins to show through.  A clever inventor in the U.S.</p> Tue, 16 Jan 2018 18:35:48 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 6888 at /oss /oss/article/controversial-science-environment-health/cleaning-air-jeans <p>You may want them in your jeans, but you probably want to keep them away from your genes. They’re “nano” particles of titanium dioxide, about ten billionths of a meter in diameter that can exhibit beneficial properties not possessed by their larger cousins, but they may also have a darker side.</p> Wed, 18 Nov 2015 01:02:27 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2294 at /oss