Artificial turf is a man-made lawn – a surface manufactured from synthetic fibers to look like natural grass. It is most known for its place in stadiums for sports that were originally played on grass; however, artificial turf is now being used for residential lawns and commercial applications as well. The main attraction is the lack of maintenance required by artificial turf. Plastic grass needs no watering or mowing, or any of the usual upkeep demanded by natural lawns. It also can withstand heavy use. Artificial turf first came to prominence in 1965, when ChemGrass, soon to be renamed Astroturf, was installed in the newly built Houston Astrodome. Astroturf and similar brands of artificial turf became popular in the 1970s and were regarded as the sports surfacing of choice in football and baseball stadiums. However, the Astroturf generation was tarnished by artificiality – bright green Nylon fiber that faded in the sun and was abrasive to skin, and an unforgiving surface owing to an asphalt base that offered little in the way of shock absorbency. By the end of the 1990s a new generation of turf emerged: long, supple fibers with shock-absorbent “infill” that played more like real grass. Today, two major league baseball teams play on artificial turf; half the teams in the NFL play on artificial turf; and dozens of major college stadiums are turfed. Thousands of high school fields have been retrofitted with artificial turf.