LED clothing is continuing to steal the spotlight. I brought you news of iLuminate clothing when it made its stage debut during Chris Brown’s cringe-worthy Michael Jackson tribute in June this year. Now I have news of another new development in the LED clothing world – Sp4rkl3 skirt. The design baby of Rehmi Post and colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sp4rkl3 skirt is lined with simple circuitry set between alternating layers of nylon and Teflon. The materials generate static as they rub together and an electric charge is generated and stored. When it reaches a certain capacity, the LEDs start to twinkle. Sounds like an accident waiting to happen, doesn’t it? What happens if a dancer gets a bit too frisky and generates too much charge? 3rd degree burns? I hope Post is prepared for a few law suits, as sparks are bound to fly.

As for the name, Sp4rkl3 skirt, I have no idea why Post chose to replace the ‘a’ and ‘e’ in sparkle with the digits 4 and 3. Please feel free to illuminate me by posting your suggestions below.
[NewScientist]