Scientists are always pushing us closer to the future envisioned by sci-fi movies. Now we learn that, like the poor, deceived wretches trapped by the Matrix in the classic movie of the same name, humans soon may become walking batteries — at least, if they wear the right t-shirt.
A professor at the University of South Carolina has figured out how to convert a t-shirt into a power source. He bought a cheap t-shirt from a discount store, soaked it in fluoride and dried it in a high-temperature oxygen-free environment. As a result, the cellulose in the fibers turned into activated carbon. The fibers were then thinly coated with manganese oxide and thereby became capacitors — i.e., a device capable of storing an electric charge. Add an electrode and a plug and — voila! — your t-shirt could be used to power your cell phone or iPad.
I don’t like wearing artificial fibers that don’t “breathe,” so I doubt that I would want to wear a carbonized shirt coated with manganese oxide. What’s more, I don’t think I’d feel comfortable in a garment that was supercharged with electricity. I’d be afraid that a little static electricity could cause a massive short circuit — and I’d hate to think of the electrical firestorm that could be created if I also wore a pair of thigh-rubbing corduroy pants on a cold, dry winter’s day.
Borgnine won a best actor Oscar for Marty in 1955, but was equally comfortable in supporting roles. He was featured prominently in four iconic movies that I’ll gladly stop and watch whenever I see them on TV: as the secretly delighted general in The Dirty Dozen, as the awesome Dutch Engstrom in The Wild Bunch, as the exasperated, then devastated, and ultimately heroic Rogo in The Poseidon Adventure, and as the cabbie in Escape From New York. In each role — and 
