Watercooler Stories

Italian company makes light-up clothing

PRATO, Italy, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Italian company Luminex announced it has been developing clothing products lined with light-generating fiber-optic technology.

The company has created shirts, pants and shawls that glow using fiber optics, the BBC reported Monday.

"It is a fabric containing, amongst other things, fiber-optics, but there is also a technical side to it," said Luminex's Cristiano Peruzzi.

"The system consists of cabling, and the fiber-optics are lit by high-efficiency LEDs (light-emitting diodes). The system powering it varies according to the function," he said.

"There are more immediate applications, everything from clothes for special events or occasions and accessories, and also household furnishings, cushions etc.

"But there are also a whole range of applications that are more technical," he added, "such as the security and emergency services."

Peruzzi told the BBC the clothing could save lives in low-visibility rescue situations.

Louisiana watermelon shy of world record

CONVERSE, La., Aug. 29 (UPI) -- A Louisiana father and son team has fallen short of growing the world's biggest watermelon, but managed to set a state record with a 252-pounder.

Father Donnie Sistrunk and 15-year-old son, Rusty, have been dabbling with monster melons in Converse, La., for the past two years, beginning when they bought a 120-pound fruit from a hotel display and using its seeds as a starting point.

Their latest effort weighed 252.4 pounds, and was certified by Dedra Wise of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry's weights and measures division, the Shreveport (La.) Times reported.

This year, of the 25 watermelons they grew, the smallest weighed 190 pounds. One weighed 207 pounds, another 220 pounds and two came in at 218 pounds.

The senior Sistrunk said the strategy is simple -- only one melon is allowed per vine, and each melon is rotated daily to keep it round and rot-free.

The pair now have their hopes set on breaking the world record of a 268.8-pound melon, set in September 2005 by the Bright family of Hope, Ark., the newspaper said.

Companies face off over sauce logo

BIRMINGHAM, England, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Britain's Premier Foods has been considering putting the Houses of Parliament image on its sauce bottles after Heinz moves production out of Britain.

Officials at Premier Foods, producers of Branston's brown sauce, said the company has been "taking advice from lawyers" regarding whether Heinz should be allowed to continue to use the Houses of Parliament image on its HP Sauce bottles next year when it moves production from Birmingham to Holland, The Independent reported Monday.

"A lot of people are urging us to put the Houses of Parliament design on our bottles," said Sue Knight, general manager for Branston at Premier Foods.

However, Nigel Dickie, Heinz U.K. and Ireland director of corporate affairs, said the company would not give up the label image.

"HP is the undisputed No. 1 brown sauce. The 'Houses of Parliament' has been a distinctive feature of the HP Sauce label for over 100 years, and this picture represents the historic usage of HP Sauce in the restaurant at the Houses of Parliament."

"This is a desperate attempt to gain publicity," Dickie told The Mirror.

Brits find building linked to Arthur tale

LONDON, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Archaeologists studying Britain's royal residences say they found the building linked to the Arthurian legend of the knights of the round table.

A circular structure built by Edward III in the 14th century has been uncovered in the quadrangle of Windsor Castle by members of Channel 4's "Time Team," the Independent reported Monday.

"The round table building is one of our most significant ever archaeological finds," "Time Team" host Tony Robinson said. "It is something that helped to establish Arthurian legends of the Knights of the Round Table."

Robinson said experts have speculated about the existence of such a structure for centuries but have never been able to find the actual building.

The "Time Team" has previously discovered treasures at Buckingham Palace in London and Holyroodhouse in Scotland.