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Type in the content of your page here What is a Spinoff? A spinoff is an invention that was originally designed to be used for space exploration, but was then also used, or solely used for another purpose not involving space. Memory foam Memory foam, is foam that will instead of immediately reverting to the shape it once held hold the shape, and is also temperature reactive. This means that when it is warmed it shall become softer, and when it is cooled it shall become firmer. Memory foam was designed for one simple reason, to enhance the comfort of the astronauts. During the launch of shuttles, and when reentering the earths atmosphere astronauts endure extreme g-force. To help the astronauts cope with this, NASA in 1962 developed memory foam. Currently Memory foam is used for a number of things. Many people find memory foam to be much more comfortable in their pillows then down. It can be used in seating, certain airlines have started to use it in this way. Bedding is also a large area, especially in hospitals. The reason for this is bed sores, bed sores occur when blood flow to the capillaries is restricted for to long. In hospitals, with many patients confined to their beds this can be a problem. Memory foam moves away from an area where pressure is applied, thus it can reduce or even eliminate pressure to certain areas. This reduces the occurrence of bed sores. Another area memory foam is used for is animal health care. When horses are injured they need to stand upright so the blood can flow. If a leg is injured this can be impossible. Thus laying a horse on a slab of memory foam lets the horse rest its leg, and allow blood circulation.

http://www.bedlum-beds.co.uk/shopimages/sections/thumbnails/memory%20foam%20imprint%202.jpg PRP PRP stands for Petroleum Remediation Product, it is an invention that safely, and efficiently removes oil, and other petroleum based products from the ground, or from water. PRP is made up of many hollow balls of beeswax. Water cannot enter the beeswax, but oil can, also oil cannot escape from the ball. So all that must be done to remove the oil from the environment, is to remove the the PRP from the affected area. The basic micro encapsulation technology was designed by NASA, and later refined into PRP by the Universal Remediation Inc. NASA originally developed this micro encapsulation technology to test the feasibility of encapsulating living, organic cells.Currently offered in ball, and powder form, it is used in many situations. The most notable of these are oil spill clean up and bilge clean up. Oil spills are a large problem because of the large areas of ocean habitat that they can harm. Bilge clean up is a lesser known application of this product. Through various ways water builds up in the bilge which must be pumped out of the boat. The problem is that motor oil, gasoline, and cleaning fluids end up mixing with the water. This may not seem to be as big a deal as an oil spill, but if you add up all the bilge water dumped out of boats it becomes obvious what kind of damage can be done to the environment. Thus PRP is employed to eliminate the various chemicals from the bilge water.

http://images-cdn01.associatedcontent.com/image/A1235/123584/300_123584.jpg Water Filter It is a filter that removes impurities from drinking water. The water filter is a charcoal based water filter where the charcoal is specially activated and contain silver ions, that kill bacteria, and pathogens.It was designed to get water cleaned in extreme situations and to make water last longer. Today this technology is used by millions to purify the water they drink.

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Anti Nausea Medication Anti-Nausea medication is medication that reduces, or removes feelings of nauseaIt was designed to eliminate the effects of space sickness. Space sickness is quite common to astronauts entering space for their first time, and also happens to astronauts that are going into space at anytime. This happens because the body is adjusting to zero gravity. It is used today to for quite a number of things, such as on airplane flights, car sickness, motion sickness, but not for space sickness. It is more efficient to let the body adjust to zero gravity then to constantly give it pills, that also cause negative side-effects such as dizziness, and drowsiness. The only time they are used is in spaces walks, where vomit in an enclosed space suit could be deadly.

Scratch Resistant Glasses Scratch resistant glasses are plastic glasses with a coating that increases scratch resistance. NASA developed the coating to protect their astronauts visors from particles in space. Today scratch resistant glasses are the norm

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Velcro Otherwise known as hook-and-loop fasteners, It is commonly made of nylon, and polyester Velcro is not a spin-off as popularly believed, NASA merely popularized the use of Velcro. Invented in 1941 by George de Mestral, but was not commercially offered until the early 1960’s, and then was used by NASA to ease the removal of space suits. Today it is used as a fastener in clothes, shoes, and even in the sport Velcro jumping.

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