The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded $100,000 in grants to 11 proposals seeking to help design better condoms.
According to New York Daily News, the Gates Foundation sponsored a contest looking for designs that would create a better condom. Eleven proposals out of over 800 were selected.
One design would make the condom tighten during sex, while another, dubbed the "Rapidom" would be easier to put on. The California Family Health Council came up with the "wrapping condom" that "wraps and clings rather than squeezes."
Another winning proposal was to use superelastromers, which supposedly wouldn't deform or tear as easily as latex and possibly be even cheaper to manufacture.
One of the winning proposals will be designed out of graphene at Manchester's National Graphene Institute, BBC News reports. Graphene will be combined with latex to create a design that will be "enhancing sensation" for users.
"People have wondered when graphene will be used in our daily life," Dr. Aravind Vijayaraghavan said. Most assume graphene will be used in things like smartphones and other devices. "Currently, people imagine using graphene in mobile phone screens, food packaging and chemical sensors."
Vijayaraghavan added, "If this project is successful, we might have [an everyday[ use which will literally touch our everyday life in the most intimate way."
image: Wikimedia Commons
