Cooling

We're caught in a vicious circle of facing increasing temperatures across the planet, and combating that with air conditioning – which in turn causes global warming. A problem worth throwing a whole lot of science at, if there ever was one.

When it comes to keeping cool on hot days, it's not so much a matter of wearing less clothing as it is a matter of wearing the right clothing. A new fabric coating could help in that regard, and it's essentially made of chalk.

Nissan has demonstrated a new automotive paint that can drastically cool a vehicle parked in direct sunshine. Tests have shown that treated cars stay up to 21.6 °F (12 °C) cooler than untreated cars parked side by side.

Artificial-turf sports fields may be more durable than those covered in grass, but they also get very hot during warm weather. Scientists have devised a method of cooling them – and the cities they're in – using rainwater stored beneath the turf.

Whether you're working outdoors or just taking a leisurely stroll, keeping your cool on a hot and sticky summer day can be a struggle. But a new Kickstarter campaign may have just the thing for a quick but lasting cooldown.

Researchers have found a surprisingly simple way to build cryogenic coolers that reach near-absolute zero up to 3.5 times faster, or using about 71% less energy, than current gear. That's big news for anything requiring seriously low temperatures.

Lots of glass surfaces can brighten up a room, but it also lets in too much heat as well as neighbors’ prying eyes. A new metamaterial is not only more transparent to light, but adds privacy, cools the room inside, and automatically cleans itself.

Temperatures around the world are on the rise, with 2023 recently confirmed as the hottest since records began. A new study has found that bringing nature into cities could help lower temperatures during heatwaves.

While there are already clothing materials that help keep wearers cool simply by allowing heat to escape, an experimental new fabric coating goes a step further. Utilizing a whole bunch of nanodiamonds, it actually draws heat away from the body.

Using a temperature-driven "wax motor," researchers have created an adaptive roof tile system that helps keep a room at a comfortable 18 °C (65 °F). It delivers an extraordinary 3.1X reduction in cooling energy consumption, and 2.6X for heating.

Scientists have demonstrated a new ultra-white ceramic material that drastically cools buildings, with record-high sunlight and heat reflectivity. The beetle-inspired material gets its ability from its nanostructure and should be easy to mass produce.

Back in late 2022, Frore Systems emerged from stealth with two solid-state active cooling chips for computers called the AirJet Pro and AirJet Mini. Now Chinese multinational Zotac has announced the rollout of the first mini-PC built around the latter.