oxygen concentrators and Mrs. America

Today I learned that oxygen concentrators use a molecular sieve to filter nitrogen out of the air, leaving something like 90% oxygen. In the past oxygen concentrators have been these 55 pound, mini-fridge sized devices, but some UC Santa Barbara students won a prize a few years ago for making a 9 pound portable one that, if you pick your airline correctly, you can take on an airplane with you, assuming your flight isn't too long or that you can plug it in somewhere.

(In case you were wondering why I'm interested, a lot of EIs use oxygen to get out of or to try to avoid a reaction, or when they aren't using the oxygen in their blood correctly.)

That was pretty educational, so the other thing I learned was that between 1938 and 1968 the Mrs. America pageant was a non-stop, eleven-day housewife contest. The guy who started it up again in 1977 as a, uh, dog and pony show, had never heard of the housewife contest.