Article of the Week--Emergency Bra: Unsnap, separate cups, inhale...
Greg Halpin
Introducing the emergency bra: it converts to a mask in case of lethal gas attack
This bra could save your life
A woman in Chicago last year developed a bra that could help people escape dangerous situations.
It will give you a boost in the right places, but it could also save your life.
The "emergency bra", created by Ukrainian scientist Dr Elena Bodnar, can be easily removed, separated into two and converted into a face mask that filters out harmful chemicals.
There might be a "counterpart device for men", CNET.com reported, although it was not clear in what shape or form it would take.
How the emergency bra works in an emergency, as show on Dr Elena Bodnar's website.
Dr Bodnar invented the bra mask after studying the fallout from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in Ukraine.
She said if the bra mask was around during the disaster, it could have saved people from inhaling Iodine-131, a radioactive isotope that causes radiation sickness, or protected New Yorkers from dust during the 9/11 attacks.
The bra, which comes in sizes 32B to 40C, went on sale online this week and has a filter that works like a value. It also has an adjustable nose pincher.
The emergency bra deployed in a non-emergency situation.
Cup size would not make a difference to the level of protection you would get, Dr Bodnar said.
Dr Bodnar was first recognised for her ingenious invention at the 2009 Ig Nobel Prize awards, a spoof of the actual Nobel Prize, and launched the bra for sale this week after a year of "safety engineering, economical design, and aesthetics".
In her Ig acceptance speech, she joked: "It takes only 25 seconds for average woman [sic] to use this personal protective device. Five seconds to remove, convert and apply your own mask, and 20 seconds to wonder who the lucky man is she is going to save."
Models show how Dr Elena Bodnar's emergency bra would be deployed in an emergency.