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Vascular Window Keeps Room Cooler
仿血管窗户让室内更凉爽
Windows can offer beautiful natural light. But on bright days, the sunlight can bake a room. That trapped heat drives up air conditioning use and energy costs.
窗户能提供漂亮的自然光线。但是在阳光强烈的时候，阳光会烤的室内很热。这使得人们使用空调，耗费能源。
Now, a team of researchers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering has designed cooler windows—by mimicking nature.
现在，哈佛大学威斯生物工程研究所的一个研究团队通过模仿自然界设计了更凉爽的窗户。
When animals get hot, tiny capillaries near the surface of the skin dilate. Circulating blood helps transfer the body heat out to the air.
动物热的时候，体表的毛细血管扩张。血液循环帮助将体内热量散到体外。
In that spirit, the researchers created a super-thin silicone-rubber layer with a network of tiny sealed channels. When the rubber is stretched over a window, it’s completely transparent.
根据这个原理，研究人员发明了一种超薄的硅酮橡胶层，上面有细小管道。当橡胶在窗户上绷紧的时候是透明的。
Water running through the channels absorbs heat and transfers it to the outside air. In the researchers’ model, a large window at 100 degrees Fahrenheit can be lowered to a much more manageable 86 degrees. And the energy needed to pump the water is far less than what would be needed to cool the room equivalently with air conditioning. The research is in the journal Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells.
从管道流过的水吸收热量将其排出室外。在研究人员的模型中，一个温度在100华氏度的大窗户温度能降到更舒服的86华氏度。使水流动的需要的能源远小于空调所需能源。研究发表在《太阳能材料和太阳能电池》杂志上。
The team is working with architects to model energy savings if the microfluidic channels were included in an entire building’s windows. Which could warm consumers’ hearts.
如果细小管道能包括在整栋建筑的窗户上，那么这个团队能节省能源。这会鼓舞消费者。
—Cynthia Graber
