Bicycle helmets are available in many colors and sizes, but they are
never designed to smell bad. Until now.
German researchers at the
Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials have developed a new
process for bike helmets to smell ripe when they break.
The
problem with conventional bike helmets (besides helmet head), is that you never know
when it's time to replace them. A dinged up helmet can still be useful,
but it's impossible to know for sure before you get in a serious bike
accident. Helmets don't exactly have expiration dates.
But the smelly technology is supposed to remove that doubt. Inside the helmet are polymer materialscontained in tiny capsules. If the helmet cracks and the capsules break, a smelly oil begins to ooze out of the capsules. Large cracks really cause a big stink. The idea is that when you start to smell something particularly unpleasant -- and it's not just sweat -- it's time for a new helmet.
Dr.-Ing. Christof Koplin, one of the researchers working on this project, says plenty of bicyclists throw away perfectly good helmets just because they don't know if they're broken. In a press release from the Institute, he said:
"Cyclists often replace their helmets unnecessarily after dropping them on the ground, because they cannot tell whether they are damaged or not. The capsules eliminate this problem."
Researchers say this technology could go far beyond bike helmets. It could one day be used in any product where it is difficult to determine whether or not that item is still working properly, like plastic hoses for water and gas supply.
Maybe when researchers are done keeping our noggins safe, they can save our hair from helmet head too.
Tags: Bike Safety, Materials, Materials Science, Safety and Prevention
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