A Microsoft patent application for a ‘virtual reality floor mat’ describes a special mat which defines a virtual playspace and can be used for tracking. Spotted by Twitter user WalkingCat, a Microsoft ...

For the past few decades, Lisa Craig Gautier and her team at San Francisco-based nonprofit Matter of Trust have used mats made out of human and animal hair to help clean beaches and bodies of water.

Shampoo works because human hair soaks up oil. One nonprofit has turned this idea on its head, using hair mats to clean up oil spills. But rather than this eco-friendly alternative, most big companies ...