Air conditioners require a lot of energy and can leak greenhouse gases. Today, scientists report an eco-friendly alternative — a plant-based cooling film with many textures and iridescent colors that could someday keep buildings and cars cool. They will present their results at ACS Spring 2023.
Tag: Temperature
Forest growing season in eastern U.S. has increased by a month
The growing period of hardwood forests in eastern North America has increased by an average of one month over the past century as temperatures have steadily risen, a new study has found.
Horticulture expert addresses plant resiliency as seasons change
A West Virginia University expert is offering insights on the effects lingering winter weather and fluctuating temperatures could have on trees, shrubs and flowers heading into the official start of spring on Monday, March 20. Mira Danilovich, associate professor with…
Hummingbirds use torpor in varying ways to survive cold temps
Hummingbirds have the fastest metabolism of any animal. The tropical hummingbirds that live in the Andes Mountains in South America must expend considerable energy to maintain their high body temperatures in cold environments. One tool that they use to survive cold nights is called torpor, a hibernation-like state that allows them to ramp down energy consumption to well below what they normally use during the day.

Magnetic spins that ‘freeze’ when heated: Nature in the wrong direction
Physicists observed a strange new type of behaviour in a magnetic material when it’s heated up. The magnetic spins ‘freeze’ into a static pattern when the temperature rises, a phenomenon that normally occurs when the temperature decreases. They publish their findings in Nature Physics on July 4th.

Coldest Northern Hemisphere temperature, first recorded by UW–Madison, officially confirmed
Nearly 30 years after recording a temperature of minus 93.2 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 69.6 Celsius) in Greenland, the measurement has been verified by the World Meteorological Organization as the coldest recorded temperature in the Northern Hemisphere. The measurement was first recorded by a University of Wisconsin–Madison Antarctic Meteorological Research Center Automatic Weather Station in December 1991.

Story Tips from Johns Hopkins Experts on COVID-19
Front-line Worker Story: Ebony Hunter — Teamwork Will Get Us Through
It seems there will never be enough “thank-you’s” for the incredible doctors, nurses, technicians and support staff members who are working around the clock to help patients who have COVID-19, the dangerous coronavirus disease. Their dedication, determination and spirit enable Johns Hopkins to deliver the promise of medicine.
Rutgers Expert Can Discuss Dry, Warm June in N.J., Potential Drought
New Brunswick, N.J. (July 8, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick climatologist David A. Robinson is available for interviews on the dry, unusually warm June in New Jersey, the dry and very warm first six months of 2020 and the potential for drought…
Rutgers Climatologist Can Discuss Role of Snow in Climate System
New Brunswick, N.J. (June 15, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick Professor David A. Robinson is available for interviews on the role of snow in the climate system, snow variability and the extent of snow cover during the satellite era. “The extent of snow on…
Rutgers Expert Can Discuss Cool, Dry May With Snow and ‘Endless Spring’
New Brunswick, N.J. (June 10, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick climatologist David A. Robinson is available for interviews on the unusually cool May in New Jersey, including the first measurable May snow in the Garden State since 1977. While many people remark…
Rutgers Expert Can Discuss Family’s 43-Year Backyard Bird Citizen Science Project
New Brunswick, N.J. (June 8, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick Professor Kimberly Russell is available for interviews on an upstate New York family’s 43-year family tradition – a competition to predict the arrival of American robins in their backyard every spring…

Development of heat-tolerant annual ryegrass germplasm
Researchers develop new annual ryegrass for earlier fall planting in the southeastern U.S.

Toward a low-cost, low-power wearable sensor for temperature and respiration
Engineers at the University of California San Diego are developing low-cost, low-power wearable sensors that can measure temperature and respiration–key vital signs used to monitor COVID-19. The devices would transmit data wirelessly to a smartphone, and could be used to monitor patients for viral infections that affect temperature and respiration in real time. The research team plans to develop a device and a manufacturing process in just 12 months.
Physicists test coronavirus particles against temperature, humidity
One of the biggest unknowns about coronavirus is how changing seasons will affect its spread. Physicists from the University of Utah have received a NSF grant to create individual coronavirus particles without a genome. They’ll test how the structure of the coronavirus withstands changes in humidity and temperature.

Preparing Plants for our Future Climate
Study investigates plant behavior when exposed to higher carbon dioxide levels.

Global Cooling After Nuclear War Would Harm Ocean Life
A nuclear war that cooled Earth could worsen the impact of ocean acidification on corals, clams, oysters and other marine life with shells or skeletons, according to the first study of its kind.

New Portable Tool Analyzes Microbes in the Environment
Imagine a device that could swiftly analyze microbes in oceans and other aquatic environments, revealing the health of these organisms – too tiny to be seen by the naked eye – and their response to threats to their ecosystems. Rutgers researchers have created just such a tool, a portable device that could be used to assess microbes, screen for antibiotic-resistant bacteria and analyze algae that live in coral reefs. Their work is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Mapping the Path of Climate Change
Predicting a major transition, such as climate change, is extremely difficult, but the probabilistic framework developed by the authors is the first step in identifying the path between a shift in two environmental states.
Climate change and the threat to global breadbaskets
Extreme climatic conditions could lead to an increased risk of unusually low agricultural harvests if more than one global breadbasket is affected by adverse climate conditions at the same time.