Humidity

It’s no secret that spider silk is one of nature’s most incredible materials. Now scientists have discovered a weird new ability. A team led by MIT has found that when exposed to a certain level of humidity, spider silk suddenly shrinks and twists, which could make it useful in artificial muscles.

A new study out of MIT suggests rising temperatures are causing energy shifts in Earth's atmosphere that are strengthening midlatitude storms, while weakening other important weather systems over North America, Europe and Asia.

Retractable sunshades have long been used to adjust the amount of sunlight an area gets during the day, but these are usually driven by motors. Taking inspiration from the humble pine cone, engineers have now developed a shading system that can open and close automatically – no electricity required.

Researchers at Jilin University in China have created tiny, simple "robots" that are powered entirely by moisture. Made out of sheets of graphene oxide treated with a flash of light, the team made a four-legged bug bot that crawled and a claw that closed in response to changes in humidity.

Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics is creating what may be a solution to the dry air of airliner cabins, in the form of personal rings of moist air for each passenger.​

The firm behind CubeSensors has launched a new trio of home sensors designed to improve your health, productivity and sleep. The Koto smart sensors, which are currently funding on Indiegogo, also feature IFTTT compatibility.

CubeSensors are little sensor-packed devices which claim to help you become healthier, more productive and even sleep better. Gizmag spent a bit of time with the diminutive cubes to see what they are all about.

Researchers from Italy and Poland have developed a new non-destructive, nano-level method to identify the root causes of the degradation of a famous red chalk on paper drawing widely accepted as a self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci, and assist in planning appropriate conservation strategies.

Tado Cooling is a Wi-Fi-enabled unit that turns any air conditioner controlled via infrared remote control into a smart device. Measuring 100 x 100 x 10 mm (3.9 x 3.9 x 0.4 in) the wall-mounted box essentially replaces the AC's remote and hands its functionality over to a smartphone.

In an effort to demonstrate the potential of humidity power as a potential renewable energy source, researchers have created prototype electrical generators with rubber sheets that move in response to changes in humidity thanks to a coating of bacterial spores.

Humidifiers generally require the user to judge the amount of humidity needed to keep the dryness out of the air in their current surroundings, but roolen is aiming to change that with the introduction of its Breath model, which automatically optimizes moisture for a room.

The Amazing Humidifier is a travel-sized device that creates water vapor from a store-bought bottle of water.