Glowing Crotches and colourful sweat patches

Ever lusted after a pair of trousers that lit up when you lunged? Or a t-shirt that lets everyone know you’re hot and sweaty by changing colour?

bastard hogberry plant glowing crotches science

Exeter and Harvard have teamed up to create a colour–changing stretchy fibre from the ‘bastard hogberry’ plant. (Excellent name).

The Bastard Hogberry

The bright blue South American tropical fruit has been adapted by scientists to create a material which changes colour when stretched. The researchers believe the fibre could be developed further for use in sport.

Harvard’s Joanna Aizenberg said: “The technology could lend itself to smart sports textiles that change colour in areas of muscle tension, or that sense when an object is placed under strain as a result of heat.”

Evidently this could be a worthy investment for Exeter University’s sports teams – think of how much more eye catching the lads in their ones would be at Timepiece Wednesdays if all their crotches were glowing?