Discarded carpets inevitably take up a lot of space in landfills, or create a great deal of smoke when incinerated. Soon, however, it may be possible to recover high-grade polypropylene from synthetic carpets that would otherwise just end up in the dump.

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Category: Environment, Science

Tags: Fraunhofer, Recycling, Plastics, Carpet, New Atlas Audio

Researchers in the U.K. have developed a “magic carpet,” but not of the mythical flying variety. The new device consists of a carpet underlay embedded with plastic optical fibers and electronic sensors that can detect and map a person's walking patterns. With all of us progressing inexorably towards the age when the consequences of a fall can become much more serious than an embarrassing inconvenience, the researchers say the smart carpet is aimed at cutting the roughly 50 percent of hospital admissions in the over 65 age group in the U.K. that are the result of falls.

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Category: Wellness and Healthy Living, Body and Mind

Tags: Safety, Carpet, Aging, University of Manchester

For asthma and allergy sufferers the choice of carpeting or hard flooring can be a confusing one. Although medical professionals often advise people with severe allergies to remove wall-to-wall carpeting, carpet manufacturers defend their product, saying that carpet fibers actually trap allergy-provoking substances like dust and pollen and prevent them from circulating in the air where they can be inhaled. A new carpet from International carpet and artificial grass manufacturer, DESSO, could mean an end to such conundrums as it is designed to capture and retain more of the potentially harmful allergy-producing particles in its fibers and significantly reduce the amount of such particles floating in the air.

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Category: Allergies, Illnesses and conditions, Body and Mind

Tags: Health, Allergies, Asthma, Carpet