Personal Cooling and Global Warming | Using Technology Well

Join astrophysicists Hugh Ross and Jeff Zweerink as they discuss how emerging technologies bring human integrity and our responsibility to care for God’s creation into sharper focus. Hugh discusses groundbreaking innovation in climate technology—clothing that cools the skin. Researchers have designed comfortable garments that integrate hydrogel with thermoelectric devices and lower skin temperature by 27 degrees. Such clothing has proven to keep people comfortable in extreme heat and its widespread use can greatly reduce energy for air conditioning and, thus, mitigate both urban heat islands and global warming. As our technology improves, so does our capacity for mismanagement. Jeff examines two technologies that were developed for good purposes—rockets and ultra-processed foods—but are currently (or will be shortly) causing significant harm. In both instances, living by God’s design lets us receive the benefits of the technology while reducing its risks. LINKS AND RESOURCES: Thermoelectrically Elevated Hydrogel Evaporation for Personal Cooling Under Extreme Heat Weathering Climate Change, Hugh Ross Why Gen X Women Can’t Stop Eating Ultra-Processed Foods Ultra-Processed Food Addiction in a Nationally Representative Sample of Older Adults in the USA Rapid Rocket Growth Raises Alarm Over Earth’s Fragile Ozone Layer