Temperature

​​Debate has long raged over the reasons for a zebra’s stripes. A new study has shed further light on this topic, uncovering new evidence that suggests the stripes are indeed used to help zebras control their temperature, even describing a previously unknown mechanism they use to keep them cool.

​Although it may not be way up there on your list of problems to address, scalding your mouth on too-hot tea or coffee can be a hassle. A German startup is out to do something about it, with the iLIQ temperature-sensing drink-cooling device.

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.

​​A new report highlighting the grim threat posed by climate change to human health has estimated that in 2015 almost 3 million lives ended prematurely as a result of ambient air pollution, and that millions more living in cities - including the elderly - are at risk from extreme temperatures.

​A newly published special report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that humanity must make rapid and unprecedented changes to all facets of society if it is to limit global warming to 1.5°C, and so mitigate the potentially devastating effects of global warming.

The way genes are expressed can be changed by environmental or lifestyle factors and these changes may be inherited from parents. A new study has found that male mice who spend time in cold environments may pass down this “experience” to their kids, in the form of higher levels of warming brown fat.

To say “Antarctica is cold” will surprise nobody, but just how cold it can get might. Researchers from NSIDC have now identified the coldest places on the planet, where the mercury plummets to almost -100° C (-148° F) under specific conditions.

University of Adelaide researchers have created a fiber optic probe that can reach deep into the brain to capture images and measure temperature. It’s been developed to learn more about hyperthermia to do with drug use, and may lead to new understanding of drug toxicology.​​

Wim Hof is an “extreme athlete” from the Netherlands, best known for his apparently superhuman ability to withstand intense cold for long periods of time. To observe what might be going on in his brain and body, scientists have now run a series of scans during these icy exposures.

Energy is all around us – we just need to work out how to tap into it. Now a team from MIT has developed a device called a thermal resonator, which could essentially pull electricity out of thin air by taking advantage of gradual ambient temperature changes over the course of the day.

NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have both released reports stating that 2017 was one of the hottest years since records began in 1880. That continues a long-term trend of rapid warming that doesn’t bode well for the future.

New high-resolution climate models are projecting that, in the not-too-distant future, America could face frequent and extreme temperatures that would take a significant toll on the nation’s water resources and agricultural efforts.