Undercover Colours – developed by four students at North Carolina State University’s Materials Science & Engineering department – is an innovative nail polish that reacts instantly (by dipping the fingers into a drink) to the presence of Rohypnol, Xanax, and GHB.
Having already made an impact on the startup showcase circuit in the US, the company is currently seeking donations for further development
Sponsored Link
These are great and all but this is a for-profit company…. bit cheeky, no!?
If it’s a reasonable price, surely not; useful product, yes? Would put an end to that particular nasty custom?
…bit-cheeky, because it is a for-profit company….. seriously?
What about the whistles and the high-pitch wearable sirens and all the other gadgets that have been about, they weren’t non-profit companies.
I meant the part that they are asking for €1000 ‘donations’, not the fact that they will make a profit
As was suggested by many people yesterday, give your money to the Rape Crisis Centre instead.
+1
Yup. This is such a bulls*t product. Better to give your money to something that actually tries to help people.
Sure, the Rape Crisis Center does fantastic work, but it can only deal with the aftermath of rape. I think this product is a little silly, but I say kudos to them for trying to prevent date rape in the first place.
True. Spread it around so. Some to them some to youth sexuality courses.
How is giving your money to the RCC going to PREVENT a rape?
Some of their work is about prevention. Try your new Google skills!
Maybe a bit of tester paper or something instead? Much as I love dunking my fingers into drinks
It is a good product, but while I have heard of people getting “roofied” in Ireland, I think it is way more common in the States particularly on student campus. My cousin mentioned 7 years ago while she was studying in Toronto (She is Canadian) that it was really a major concern. Maybe things have changed in Ireland since I left 4 years ago, but getting roofied while I lived there was never a concern for me
I’m sure it happens but It doesn’t seem to be a huge problem here. I know a couple of people who swear blind they’ve been roofied but without going to get tested for it, it could just as easily be drinking too much.
And all the while I just assumed my date was flirting with me as she stirred her cocktail with her finger…
Utter patronising f***ing bull. This is exactly like those chastity-belt shorts from a few months ago – why is the onus on the woman to protect herself from rape instead of asking men not to rape women? Ok it is less invasive than the pants, but why not develop a litmus-type paper to give to bars and pubs to test drinks instead of leaving the responsibility up to the woman? I’m not going to paint my nails with the same shade all the time in case I meet a fella in a bar anyway
Yes. Let’s ask all criminals not to do crimes. All our problems solved.
As I have just said, a similar chemical product for bars and pubs would have the same effect and not be a massive insult to women.
“Let’s ask all criminals not to do crimes. All our problems solved.”
Horses**t. Nowhere did I say that.
Wait. Dave needs time for his knees to stop jerking so he can read what you actually said.
The logic of “Asking men not to rape women” could easily be applied to any illegal act hence Dave’s comment. Bit like saying “Why do we have to pay for a police service when we could just ask everyone to not commit a crime”. I just think that’s an unfair criticism of this product.
Apart from that I think missred makes a good point, surely there’s a way to put a chemical in the drinks themselves that would change colour.
It could but Dave really took that and ran. Good exercise I guess?
There was a campaign a while ago somewhere in the world where bar staff would go around and sticker your drink if it was unattended. Good way to raise awareness of how easy it is for someone to slip you something when you aren’t looking.
No, missred does not make a good point.
Adding chemicals to drink? That’s not gonna go down well with everyone.
Until you can telepathically convince rapists not to rape people, this isn’t the worst idea in the world. Whether it’s nails or a strip of paper or a beermat or whatever, it doesn’t hurt and might conceivably save some nastyness.
“Horses**t. Nowhere did I say that.”
You did. You said:
“why is the onus on the woman to protect herself from rape instead of asking men not to rape women?”
Which equates in any language to asking criminals not to commit crime.
In a thread on this nail varnish, some fella on reddit said his US patent application for a patent on straw doing the same thing as above had been rejected as it was too similar to an existing application. He wanted the straws to be low cost and able to be sold or provided by bar owners.
For the woman’s peace of mind? There’s been many cases around the world where bar staff have been the perpetrators.
It’s hardly patronising. Although the assumption that only women get drugged is.
ach! disappointing! With that headline I was expecting something a bit more Wolverine-like
Why is it easier to invent anti-rape nail polish than find a way to stop rapists?
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/26/anti-rape-nail-polish-stop-rapists
I can think of about 5 billion reasons.
That your sperm count, droid?
Welcome to last week, before the news came out that this stuff is completely useless. There are too many date rape drugs to test for, such tests are prone to type 1 or type 2 errors, and concentration and other constituents in the drink affect whether or not the nail varnish detects anything.
How about some nails with retractable spikes for gouging rapists eyes out.
More like it. Probably deemed “anti-rapist” though.
What the fupp’s ‘bin going on in BS HQ over the holidays
TeeVeePee’s coffee morning ladies were talking about this days ago….
Get it together lads
for Jaysus’ sake
I want nail varnish with drugs in it. You can lick them to get high and they change colour when the ‘stash’ runs out. Awesome.
Jesus Christ. We give women a litany of things they have to do to not be raped. Don’t walk alone, don’t drink too much, don’t wear this, wear this chastity belt, carry mace, carry a whistle, wear this nail varnish. What effin instructions are men EVER given on this subject????? Why is the responsibility on women? Why are some men such ANIMALS?
Yup. Silly isn’t it
Oh, I don’t know. The law?