Remember that bra we wrote about last year that lifted more than just our spirits when it won the 2009 Ig Nobel Public Health Prize? 
 
 (Credit: Ebbra.com) 
 
 Well, creator Dr. Elena Bodnar--whose inspiration comes in part from having witnessed as a young physician the devastating effects of the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster in 1986--is introducing the now commercially available Emergency Bra at the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Mass., on September 28. She hopes we can all "get a feel of [sic] the product," as she has grown fond of saying. 
 
 The bra is, of course, meant to be taken off, something most adults presumably have experience with. Once removed, it separates into two masks which, when placed over the nose and mouth, filter out particles that were found to be as harmful as radiation in Chernobyl. 
 
 There is also some noise of a "counterpart device for men" in the works, though the precise shape it will take has yet to be revealed. The emergency bra may work well for women, but attaining the second of the two resulting masks does require men who are not cross-dressing to beg and plead in the event of a disaster. 
 
 As Bodnar explained in her alluring Ukrainian accent when accepting the award: 
 
 Ladies and gentlemen, isn't that wonderful that women have two breasts, not just one? We can save not only our own life, but also the life of a man of our choice next to us. 
 
 Now, a year later, what was once a bizarre and intriguing idea has turned into an actual bra that can be purchased online for $29.99. Ladies, it's a sexy red and comes in a wide range of sizes, from 32B to 40C. Gentlemen, Bodnar assures us that in the event of an emergency, the size of the cup does not matter. ||||| Caught in a disaster? You'd better hope you're wearing the Emergency Bra. Simply unsnap the bright red bra, separate the cups, and slip it over your head -- one cup for you, and one for your friend. 
 
 Dr. Elena Bodnar won an Ignoble Award for the invention last year, an annual tribute to scientific research that on the surface seems goofy but is often surprisingly practical. And now Bodnar has brought the eBra to the public; purchase one online for just $29.95. 
 
 "The goal of any emergency respiratory device is to achieve tight fixation and full coverage. Luckily, the wonderful design of the bra is already in the shape of a face mask and so with the addition of a few design features, the Emergency Bra enhances the efficiency of minimizing contaminated bypass air flow," explains the eBra website. 
 
 It sounds silly, but Bodnar, a Ukraine native who now lives in Chicago, started her medical career studying the effects of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster. If people had had cheap, readily available gas masks in the first hours after the disaster, she said, they may have avoided breathing in Iodine-131, which causes radiation sickness. 
 
 The bra-turned-gas masks could have also been useful during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and for women caught outside during the dust storms that recently enveloped Sydney, she said. 
 
 "You have to be prepared all the time, at any place, at any moment, and practically every woman wears a bra," she said. Her patented devices also look pretty, no different from a conventional bra, she added. 
 
 According to a report on tech news site CNET, there are plans for a "counterpart device for men" in the works, though the precise shape it will take has yet to be revealed. 
 
 FoxNews.com's SciTech section is on Twitter! Follow us @fxnscitech.
– A potentially life-saving "emergency bra" invented by a Ukrainian doctor has gone from award-winningly odd idea to actual commercial product. The bra, which doubles up as a pair of gas masks has gone on sale online for $29.95, Fox reports. Inventor Elena Bodnar, who witnessed the devastating effects of the Chernobyl disaster, says readily available gas masks could have prevented many cases of radiation sickness. "Ladies and gentlemen, isn't that wonderful that women have two breasts, not just one?" Bodnar said last year when collecting an "Ig Nobel" prize for the invention. "We can save not only our own life, but also the life of a man of our choice next to us." A "counterpart device for men" is in the works, according to CNET, but no word yet on what form it will take.