This textile is sewn into Tony’s fire-retardant Nomex shirt to record his heart rate and muscle tension through bioelectric signals. The shirt’s backstory is equally impressive. The inventor ...

"The military is issuing the NOMEX clothing and equipment to Soldiers and Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Col. Mark Drake, Acting Director of Supply Directorate for the Army's G-4.

Just about everyone who straps into a racing car—regardless of discipline or series—does so wearing layers of a synthetic fabric called Nomex. It was designed in the late 1950s for DuPont by ...