Temperature

Panasonic has announced significant improvements in the toughness department with its new 14.1-megapixel LUMIX DMC-TS2. It's now waterproof to even greater depths, can survive being dropped from a height of six feet and winter sports enthusiasts will no doubt be pleased to hear that it can also withstand some seriously chilly temperatures. Read More

Previous studies have indicated that painting the roofs of buildings white could be a low tech way to reduce global warming by reflecting the sun’s rays back into space. Now the first computer modeling study to simulate the impacts of white roofs on urban areas worldwide has added more weight to such a proposal indicating that painting every roof in a city entirely white could cool the world’s cities by an average of about 0.7 degrees Fahrenheit or 0.4 degrees Celsius. Read More

Currently, your iPod might have your favorite songs personalized the way you like them and your laptop might be customized with your own homepage material. But what about your shower or bath? Do they know what you like? An easy-to-use interface for your bathroom is now available from Moen that gives you the ability to set and maintain water temperature, levels and flow with electronic precision – even remotely. The ioDIGITAL is available for three Moen products: the vertical spa, shower and Roman tub. Read More

During high-risk medical operations surgeons keep blood supplies at hand so that they are ready to face possible emergencies; but blood bags can only be reused if the cold chain has been maintained, meaning that a portion of such a precious and limited resource routinely goes wasted. To face this problem, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany have proposed intelligent blood bags with an embedded a radio chip that constantly monitors temperature and checks for blood type compatibility with the patient, avoiding possible mistakes. Read More

Those who scoffed at the swiftness with which the world was plunged into an ice age in the film The Day After Tomorrow may need to rethink their disbelief with new research showing that such a scenario may not be so far from the truth. A new study reveals that switching off the North Atlantic circulation can force the Northern hemisphere into a mini ‘ice age’ in a matter of months rather than the tens of years indicated by previous research. Read More

Prototype roof tiles that turn white to reflect heat when they get hot seem like a pretty cool idea, as do tiles that turn black to absorb heat when it’s cold. That’s why a team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) graduates has won the third annual MIT MADMEC (Making and Designing Materials Engineering Contest) by demonstrating their thermally-activated, color-changing, roofing material called “Thermeleon” (as in chameleon). Read More

As an increasing number of hybrid-powered vehicles move from concept to completion, technology is battling to keep pace with some of the less-publicized technical challenges found among the complex electronics aboard these land- and air-based vehicles, computers and other devices. For instance, how do you effectively cool the electronics in a high-power electric motor that propels a passenger car from 0-60mph in under 10 seconds and uses regenerative braking to stop? Researchers in the U.S. believe the secret may lie in understanding precisely how fluid boils in tiny ‘microchannels’, which has led them to develop formulas and models that will help engineers design unique systems to cool high-power electronics found in today’s and tomorrow’s devices. Read More

You know how it is … you make or buy that perfect cup of coffee or tea only to have it go cold before you’ve finished because the phone rang or your boss interrupted your break with some urgent assignment. Well, there’s great news for coffee-lovers (and tea connoisseurs). Two German scientists have put their heads together to come up with a hot drink receptacle that keeps your beverage at the perfect drinking temperature for up to 30 minutes. Read More

Nissan's new Fuga vehicles will have an air conditioning system that emulates forest scents and refreshing breezes to make driving more comfortable. The company says the air conditioner uses a number of technologies to control cabin temperature, ventilation, aroma and humidity. It can even detect bad smells from outside and shuts its vents to prevent their entry. The system is based on the results of a joint research study with the Tokyo University of Science on the effects of aroma on human mental activity. Read More