Skip to main content

Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

Post a Comment

This New Cooling Ceramic Can Cut Your Electricity Bill—And Cool the Planet

A bio-inspired material that could revolutionize green buildings worldwide

Imagine keeping buildings cool—without using air conditioners, electricity, or harmful refrigerants. Sounds futuristic? Not anymore. Researchers from the City University of Hong Kong (CityU) have created a breakthrough ceramic material that cools passively, inspired by nature, and made using simple, scalable methods. This "cooling ceramic" promises to reshape the future of sustainable construction.

In a world where buildings account for nearly 40% of global energy use, much of it from cooling systems, this innovation arrives as a game-changer. Let’s explore how this revolutionary material works, what makes it unique, and why it’s vital for our planet’s future.

This New Cooling Ceramic Can Cut Your Electricity Bill—And Cool the Planet

What Is Passive Radiative Cooling (PRC)?

Before diving into the ceramic itself, let’s understand passive radiative cooling (PRC)—the science behind the magic.

PRC materials are designed to reflect sunlight while simultaneously radiating heat into outer space, all without using energy. The Earth naturally emits heat in the form of infrared radiation, especially at night. PRC materials enhance this process and function best when they can emit heat through the atmosphere’s "transparency window" (8–13 micrometers wavelength), where the atmosphere allows infrared radiation to escape.

By reflecting most of the incoming sunlight and efficiently radiating thermal energy, PRC materials help cool down surfaces—like rooftops or walls—without electricity.

Meet the Cooling Ceramic: What Makes It Special?

Developed by Professor Edwin Tso Chi-yan and his research team at CityU, the cooling ceramic is a bio-inspired, low-cost, durable material that excels in radiative cooling.

Key Features:

  1. Super High Reflectivity (99.6%)

    • The ceramic reflects almost all sunlight wavelengths, keeping surfaces cool even in intense sunlight.

    • This reflectivity is one of the highest ever recorded for cooling materials.

  2. Energy-Free and Refrigerant-Free

    • Unlike air conditioners, it doesn't need electricity or chemicals to work.

    • It’s completely passive—works just by being exposed to sunlight and air.

  3. Durable and Fire-Resistant

    • Made from alumina (Al₂O₃), a common and heat-resistant inorganic material.

    • Withstands temperatures over 1,000°C, far better than most polymer or metal-based cooling materials.

  4. UV-Resistant and Weatherproof

    • Alumina’s high bandgap protects it from ultraviolet degradation, making it perfect for long-term outdoor use.

  5. Insect-Inspired Design

    • Inspired by the Cyphochilus beetle, known for its bright white color due to light scattering.

    • This bio-mimicry was used to optimize the ceramic’s porous structure for better light scattering.

  6. Mie Scattering for Maximum Efficiency

    • The ceramic employs Mie scattering, a process where particles within the material scatter different wavelengths of sunlight.

    • This allows for complete and even solar reflectance, making it superior to most available materials.

How Is It Made?

You might expect such a high-tech material to be difficult and expensive to produce. Surprisingly, it’s simple and scalable.

Production Method:

  • Phase Inversion: A technique where a polymer solution turns into a porous structure.

  • Sintering: Heating the material to fuse its particles without melting them completely.

These two steps create a hierarchically porous structure using basic and inexpensive materials like alumina. No fancy labs or rare elements are required—meaning mass production is practical and affordable.

Real-World Impact: Cooling Homes, Saving Energy

In tests, the ceramic was applied to building roofs and tested for energy savings. The result?

Over 20% reduction in electricity used for cooling
— Professor Edwin Tso

That means significantly lower electricity bills, especially in hot, sunny climates. Beyond cost savings, the ceramic also helps:

  • Reduce greenhouse gas emissions

  • Prevent overloading power grids

  • Mitigate urban heat islands (cities becoming hotter due to concrete and asphalt)

The Science Behind the Cooling Power

Here’s how the material works in technical terms—but explained simply:

  1. Reflects Sunlight
    The ceramic bounces back most of the sun’s energy instead of absorbing it.

  2. Emits Heat to Outer Space
    It emits infrared radiation through the atmospheric window to space, carrying heat away.

  3. Doesn’t Trap Heat (Leidenfrost Effect Suppression)
    On hot surfaces, liquids usually form a protective vapor layer that slows down cooling (Leidenfrost effect). This ceramic prevents that, allowing faster and more efficient cooling.

  4. Optimized Pores Enhance Scattering
    The pores are tuned in size and structure to scatter all sunlight wavelengths, inspired by natural brightness tricks used by insects.

Why This Matters in a Warming World

Climate change is heating up our planet. Cooling systems like ACs are in more demand, but they themselves consume massive energy and release heat and refrigerants—worsening the very problem they solve.

Here’s the dilemma:

  • More heat → More AC use

  • More AC use → More emissions → Even more heat

The cooling ceramic breaks this cycle. It offers cooling without using power, creating a net benefit to the environment.

Versatility and Applications

Because of its low cost, strong performance, and durability, the cooling ceramic can be used in:

  • Residential and Commercial Buildings
    Apply it on rooftops and walls to reduce interior temperatures.

  • Warehouses and Factories
    Perfect for large surfaces where traditional ACs are inefficient.

  • Temporary Shelters and Disaster Relief Housing
    Offers cooling without electricity—a vital feature for remote or disaster-hit areas.

  • Vehicles, Solar Farms, Outdoor Equipment
    Keeps equipment from overheating under the sun.

Comparison with Existing Solutions

Feature Cooling Ceramic Polymer PRC Materials Metal PRC Materials
Solar Reflectivity 99.6% 90–95% 85–95%
Durability High (1000°C+) Low (UV degradation) Medium
Fire Resistance Excellent Poor Good
Weatherproof Yes No Limited
Cost Low Medium High
Eco-Friendly Yes No (chemicals) Medium

Clearly, the cooling ceramic outperforms traditional options on almost every front.

What Experts Are Saying

“Our ceramic is durable, scalable, and highly effective. We believe it will play a critical role in sustainable architecture and help mitigate climate challenges.”
— Professor Edwin Tso

“With its incredible cooling performance and minimal cost, this material could be used worldwide—especially in regions hit hardest by heatwaves and energy shortages.”
— Comment from materials science community

What’s Next?

The technology has been successfully published in the journal Science and is now under evaluation for commercial-scale applications.

The team is exploring:

  • Industrial partnerships

  • Construction industry collaborations

  • Further environmental testing

They hope to see the material used in green-certified buildings within the next few years.

Final Thoughts: A Cool Path Forward

The cooling ceramic from CityU represents more than a scientific advancement—it’s a practical, scalable, and nature-inspired solution to one of the greatest environmental challenges of our time.

As the world battles rising temperatures, increasing electricity demand, and climate-related disasters, innovations like these offer hope. They show that with smart design and sustainable thinking, we can build a cooler, cleaner future—without plugging in another AC.

Summary Box

  • What: Passive radiative cooling ceramic

  • Developed By: City University of Hong Kong

  • Material: Alumina-based, hierarchically porous

  • Reflectivity: 99.6%

  • Fire Resistance: >1000°C

  • Inspired By: Cyphochilus beetle & Mie scattering

  • Use Cases: Buildings, roofs, warehouses, shelters

  • Impact: Reduces electricity use by over 20%

  • Goal: Fight climate change with sustainable cooling

Reference: Kaixin Lin et al., "Hierarchically structured passive radiative cooling ceramic with high solar reflectivity", Science 382, 691-697(2023). DOI:10.1126/science.adi4725

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular

Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

For years, scientists believed that adding even one qubit (a unit of quantum information) to a black hole needed energy. This was based on the idea that a black hole’s entropy must increase with more information, which means it must gain energy. But a new study by Jonah Kudler-Flam and Geoff Penington changes that thinking. They found that quantum information can be teleported into a black hole without adding energy or increasing entropy . This works through a process called black hole decoherence , where “soft” radiation — very low-energy signals — carry information into the black hole. In their method, the qubit enters the black hole while a new pair of entangled particles (like Hawking radiation) is created. This keeps the total information balanced, so there's no violation of the laws of physics. The energy cost only shows up when information is erased from the outside — these are called zerobits . According to Landauer’s principle, erasing information always needs energy. But ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Black Holes That Never Dies

Black holes are powerful objects in space with gravity so strong that nothing can escape them. In the 1970s, Stephen Hawking showed that black holes can slowly lose energy by giving off tiny particles. This process is called Hawking radiation . Over time, the black hole gets smaller and hotter, and in the end, it disappears completely. But new research by Menezes and his team shows something different. Using a theory called Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG) , they studied black holes with quantum corrections. In their model, the black hole does not vanish completely. Instead, it stops shrinking when it reaches a very small size. This leftover is called a black hole remnant . They also studied something called grey-body factors , which affect how much energy escapes from a black hole. Their findings show that the black hole cools down and stops losing mass once it reaches a minimum mass . This new model removes the idea of a “singularity” at the center of the black hole and gives us a better ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meet Astro, the World’s Smartest Doberman Robodog That Smell Trouble Before It Happens

Imagine a dog that can not only sit, stay, and lie down but also detect explosives, recognize faces, respond to distress calls, and even help during disasters. Sounds like a character from a sci-fi movie, right? Well, meet Astro , a real-life robodog developed by scientists at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) . He’s not your typical robotic toy—Astro is powered by deep learning and artificial intelligence (AI) , designed to perform complex tasks that could one day save lives. In this article, we will dive into what makes Astro so special, how he works, what he can do, and how he could help in making the world a safer and smarter place. What is Astro? Astro is a four-legged, intelligent robot dog developed at FAU’s Machine Perception and Cognitive Robotics Laboratory (MPCR) . He was built using an open-source quadruped robotic platform provided by Ghost Robotics , and is powered by advanced AI technology. Unlike other robotic dogs that simply follow pre-set commands, Astro can...
Post a Comment
Read more