Velcro is a hook-and-loop (粘扣的) device that is commonly found on a wide range of products, such as shoes, jackets, and a lot of other equipment in offices, kitchens, and garages. It’s also the name of the company that originally created the “thing”generally known as Velcro.

George de Mestral, a Swiss electrical engineer, is the inventor of Velcro. How he came to the idea of actually making this thing that we call Velcro is a truly incredible story.

One fine morning in 1948, Mestral went for a walk with his dog. After returning from the walk, he found that some seeds got stuck to the dog’s fur. However, the man’s attention was turned to his own trousers, where many similar seeds were also attached.

Upon closer examination, he noticed that there were many small hooks in the seeds that stuck firmly to the loops in the fabric of his trousers. The first idea for what would eventually become Velcro struck him like lightning. If he could artificially recreate the same thing, by making pairs of hooks-and-loops that stick to each other firmly, then there would be almost no need to tie things up all the time to secure them, nor would zippers, which were quite popular in those days, be necessary any longer. He decided to call the product he formed Velcro.

Like many inventions, Velcro also faced a great deal of criticism,but Mestral stood by his design and continued to make structural changes to enhance its bonding strength. He worked with a Frenchmah to come up with a perfect hook-and-loop device. Mestral patented Velcro in 1955.

Velcro didn’t do very well initially; much of that was due to its lack of aesthetic appeal. It came in dull colors and often looked quite “unattractive”. But soon, even NASA helped to boost Velcro’s image by using it in a lot of equipment that went into space along with astronauts.

Glass bottles have long conveyed (传递) a high-quality image for the wine they carry, but their carbon footprint is sizable. Fossil fuels are used to produce and recycle them. And when it comes to transport, they are also heavy and waste space.

“But Packamama, an Australian packaging start up, has launched a range of flat wine-bottles, the first for the country, promoting them as an environment ally-friendly alternative to traditional glass. The bottles are made from 100 % recycled PET plastic. The slim, flat profile (外形) is 83 % lighter, and allows twice as many bottles to fit into a standard case. “Australia is home to the two most significant successful wine packaging innovations of the last century. Bag-in-box and screw cap (螺旋瓶盖), both from the mid-1960 s,” says Santiago Navarro, Packamama’s co-founder.

Three months after the first bottles hit the shelves, the data suggests flat-bottled wines are becoming popular with drinkers. Packamarna’s first production order was for 65,000 units, a figure that has risen to 90,000. The demand was so strong that they were sold out after the first production. Questions remain, however, about the flat-profile bottle’s suit ability for high-quality wines. The wine maker Nicole Esdaile, of Cent are Vineyard in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, applauds the move but says it is not a workable option for her business, given its focus on classic, collectible wines typically exported to China. “Critically, they are not suitable for storing wine, with the recommended shelf life being no more than two years. The bottles are perfect for quick ‘drink-now’ style.”

The wine maker Tom Wallace wants to see how flat-bottled wines perform over the years ahead. “The priority for us is the quality of the wine going in, so the packaging has to reflect that and allow those wines to mature (酿成) in the best way possible. We will wait and see how the trials and research go before we jump on board.”

Amazon has plans to drop off packages directly into shoppers’ houses. The world’s largest online retailer has announced Amazon Key, a lock and camera system that users control remotely to let delivery associates (伙伴) put goods into their houses. Customers can create temporary passwords (密码) for friends and other service professionals to enter as well.

The smart lock may help Amazon get sales from shoppers who cannot make it home to receive an order, and don’t want the package stolen from their doorstep. It also signals Amazon’s determination to win the market of home security devices, where Alphabet Inc.’s Nest Labs competes.

“This is not an experiment for us，” said Peter Larsen, Amazon vice president of delivery technology, in an interview. “This is a key part of the Amazon shopping experience from this point forward.”

Members of Amazon’s Prime shopping club can pay $249.99 and up for a cloud­controlled camera and lock that the company offers to install. Delivery associates are told to ring a doorbell or knock when they arrive at someone’s house. If no one greets them, they press “unlock” in a mobile app, and Amazon checks its systems in an instant to make sure the right associate and package are present. The camera then streams the video to the customer who remotely can watch the in­home delivery take place. The associate cannot proceed with other trips until the house is again locked.

It is unclear whether such protections will persuade customers that the service is safe to use. Larsen said stealing was “not something that happens in practice”， based on early tests of the Amazon Key program. He added that if a problem arises, “You can call customer service and Amazon will work with you to make sure it’s right, reimbursing (赔偿) you for any loss or damage in some cases.”