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As the occurrence and risk of heatwaves increase, adaptation measures to mitigate overheating risk are needed within our homes. One potential solution which is seen extensively in warmer climates, especially across mainland Europe are shutters. They are a low energy and long-lasting solution which block solar gains from entering homes and therefore reduce heat ingress and internal temperatures. However, through semi-structured interviews, a series of barriers have been identified which limit the mass roll-out of shutters in the UK. This paper presents the social, technical and regulatory barriers identified by building and overheating experts within the UK. As a result, this paper suggests some recommendations to address the barriers that have been identified.

The anti-foaming protection is designed to prevent the oil from overheating due to intense oil churning and to reduce torque losses. The numerical simulation will be performed on gearbox housing in the SolidWorks Flow module in two variants: without anti-foaming protection and with anti-foaming protection, both for 3 values of the speed: 1000, 1200, 1400 rpm and 3 values of the oil height: 70, 100, 126 mm. The aim of the paper is to quantify by simulation the torque losses in the gearbox housing for different values of speed and oil level.

Urban overheating, driven by global climate change and urban development, is a major contemporary challenge that substantially impacts urban livability and sustainability. Overheating represents a multifaceted threat to the well‐being, performance, and health of individuals as well as the energy efficiency and economy of cities, and it is influenced by complex interactions between building, city, and global scale climates. In recent decades, extensive discipline‐specific research has characterized urban heat and assessed its implications on human life, including ongoing efforts to bridge neighboring disciplines. The research horizon now encompasses complex problems involving a wide range of disciplines, and therefore comprehensive and integrated assessments are needed that address such interdisciplinarity. Here, our objective is to go beyond a review of existing literature and instead provide a broad overview and integrated assessments of urban overheating, defining holistic pathways for addressing the impacts on human life. We (a) detail the characterization of heat hazards and exposure across different scales and in various disciplines, (b) identify individual sensitivities to urban overheating that increase vulnerability and cause adverse impacts in different populations, (c) elaborate on adaptive capacities that individuals and cities can adopt, (d) document the impacts of urban overheating on health and energy, and (e) discuss frontiers of theoretical and applied urban climatology, built environment design, and governance toward reduction of heat exposure and vulnerability at various scales. The most critical challenges in future research and application are identified, targeting both the gaps and the need for greater integration in overheating assessments. Plain Language Summary Many major cities are faced with the compounding effects of climate change and rapid urbanization. One of the main challenges that result is urban overheating, which leads to negative impacts on human life (deteriorating health, productivity, and well‐being) and urban energy systems. Heat exposure in cities, however, is only the trigger and there are other factors that influence impacts. Urban heat vulnerability exists when sensitive people and infrastructure are exposed to extreme heat, and negative impacts ensue if there is a lack of capacity to respond and adapt. Accordingly, to combat overheating challenges, it is critical that multidisciplinary solutions are integrated to mitigate exposure, reduce sensitivity, and increase adaptive capacities. This paper provides an integrated assessment of urban overheating literature, defining pathways for addressing the impacts on human life. We review the state‐of‐the‐art methods used to quantify heat hazards and exposure, detail the sensitivity of people and infrastructure to overheating, and elaborate on the adaptive capacities that individuals and cities can undertake in response. We provide recommendations for both researchers and policymakers that will minimize overheating impacts. These recommendations range from modifications to urban and building design to engaging citizens and informing urban overheating governance. Key Points Urban overheating is the exceedance of locally‐defined thermal thresholds that lead to negative impacts on people and urban systems Exposure to heat hazards compounded with sensitivity and reduced adaptive capacity of people and urban systems lead to increased risk levels Research and application should provide integrated solutions to mitigate exposure, reduce sensitivity, and increase adaptive capacities

Transparent roofs and walls offer a compelling solution for harnessing natural light. However, traditional glass roofs and walls face challenges such as glare, privacy concerns, and overheating issues. In this study, we present a polymer-based micro-photonic multi-functional metamaterial. The metamaterial diffuses 73% of incident sunlight, creating a more comfortable and private indoor environment. The visible spectral transmittance of the metamaterial (95%) surpasses that of traditional glass (91%). Furthermore, the metamaterial is estimated to enhance photosynthesis efficiency by ~9% compared to glass roofs. With a high emissivity (~0.98) close to that of a mid-infrared black body, the metamaterial is estimated to have a cooling capacity of ~97 W/m 2 at ambient temperature. The metamaterial was about 6 °C cooler than the ambient temperature in humid Karlsruhe. The metamaterial exhibits superhydrophobic performance with a contact angle of 152°, significantly higher than that of glass (26°), thus potentially having excellent self-cleaning properties. Transparent roofs offer a solution for harnessing natural light in sustainable buildings. Here, authors demonstrate a polymer-based metamaterial with micro-pyramid surface structures that diffuses sunlight while offering passive cooling and self-cleaning properties.

Various neuromodulation approaches have been employed to alter neuronal spiking activity and thus regulate brain functions and alleviate neurological disorders. Infrared neural stimulation (INS) could be a potential approach for neuromodulation because it requires no tissue contact and possesses a high spatial resolution. However, the risk of overheating and an unclear mechanism hamper its application. Here we show that midinfrared stimulation (MIRS) with a specific wavelength exerts nonthermal, long-distance, and reversible modulatory effects on ion channel activity, neuronal signaling, and sensorimotor behavior. Patch-clamp recording from mouse neocortical pyramidal cells revealed that MIRS readily provides gain control over spiking activities, inhibiting spiking responses to weak inputs but enhancing those to strong inputs. MIRS also shortens action potential (AP) waveforms by accelerating its repolarization, through an increase in voltage-gated K⁺ (but not Na⁺) currents. Molecular dynamics simulations further revealed that MIRS-induced resonance vibration of –C=O bonds at the K⁺ channel ion selectivity filter contributes to the K⁺ current increase. Importantly, these effects are readily reversible and independent of temperature increase. At the behavioral level in larval zebrafish, MIRS modulates startle responses by sharply increasing the slope of the sensorimotor input–output curve. Therefore, MIRS represents a promising neuromodulation approach suitable for clinical application.

Vertical vegetation systems offer a sustainable solution for enhancing building energy efficiency and indoor comfort while also providing essential urban ecosystem services. However, research on their thermal effects during heat waves is still limited, particularly in the context of climate change. Mitigating overheating during hot seasons is crucial for both ecosystems and human health, especially in temperate regions.The present study aims to investigate and compare the benefits of two types of vertical green walls, applied to the facades of an existing building, in mitigating the effects of heat waves, relative to a baseline wall. Using the ENVI-met software, this research analyzes the external thermal response in 2024 and during a hypothetical heat wave for 2050, with the University of Parma’s Engineering Headquarter serving as a case study. To address the research aims, the absolute differences between the Mean Radiant Temperature (MRT) values and the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) will be evaluated for each façade and scenario across the three cases. The results will help to understand the microclimatic benefits of vertical greenery, thereby supporting future urban adaptation strategies for climate change.

This paper presents a study on the potential future risk of overheating in the Swiss building stock. Through a bottom-up archetypal model and an adaptive thermal comfort model the occurrence and intensity of overheating phenomena were assessed for some residential (single-family houses, SFHs and multi-family houses, MFHs) and non-residential (offices and schools) sectors under different climate scenarios. The results show that office buildings will be the most affected by climate change (+88% of hours outside the thermal comfort range compared to the base year in RCP scenario 8.5), followed by MFHs (+87%), SFHs (+85%) and schools (+60%). To assess the risk for the elderly population, the results were compared with demographic development scenarios at cantonal level, identifying the cantons of Geneva, Lucerne and Basel as risk hotspots. The results show how the adoption of a mechanical ventilation system in new buildings decreases the risk of overheating (halving the percentage of uncomfortable hours in residential buildings). This analysis is an important starting point for examining potential national and regional policies.

Green infrastructure‐based heat mitigation strategies can help alleviate the overheating burden on urban residents. While the cooling effect of parks has been explored in individual satellite‐based studies, a global, multi‐year investigation has been lacking. This study provides a comprehensive global assessment of the daytime surface park cool island (SPCI) climatology, using land surface temperatures from 2,083 systematically selected parks worldwide (2013–2022). Through detailed park selection and data stratification, the key drivers influencing the observed SPCI intensity are isolated. The analysis reveals that cooling is strongly linked to park type, with well‐treed parks being, on average, 3.4°C, cooler than the surrounding urban area during summer. It is further investigated how SPCI is influenced by seasonal variations, droughts, and urban morphology across diverse background climates. These findings, along with the developed global SPCI data set, offer critical insights for designing climate‐resilient green spaces. Plain Language Summary Green infrastructure can help address the heat‐related challenges faced by urban populations. In this paper, we examine the ability of urban parks to provide cooling to the warmer adjacent built‐up environment. To achieve this, we analyzed land surface temperatures across more than 2,000 parks worldwide, and found that parks act as localized cool spots, with an average daytime temperature difference of 1.5°C compared to their surroundings. Our results also reveal that different park types have greatly varying cooling potential. For instance, parks with a high density of trees can be over 4°C cooler than nearby urban areas, while parks with low vegetation provide less daytime cooling. Additionally, we investigate how broader climatic conditions, drought events, and urban characteristics influence the cooling intensity of parks, aiming to better understand how parks can help mitigate urban overheating under different scenarios. Key Points The global average daytime surface park cool island intensity is 1.5°C based on satellite data from 2,083 parks for the period 2013–2022 Park cooling varies widely, controlled by park characteristics, background climate, weather conditions, and the surrounding urban form Forested parks exhibit the strongest daytime cooling effect and are most resilient to drought conditions

The densification of integrated circuits requires thermal management strategies and high thermal conductivity materials 1 – 3 . Recent innovations include the development of materials with thermal conduction anisotropy, which can remove hotspots along the fast-axis direction and provide thermal insulation along the slow axis 4 , 5 . However, most artificially engineered thermal conductors have anisotropy ratios much smaller than those seen in naturally anisotropic materials. Here we report extremely anisotropic thermal conductors based on large-area van der Waals thin films with random interlayer rotations, which produce a room-temperature thermal anisotropy ratio close to 900 in MoS 2 , one of the highest ever reported. This is enabled by the interlayer rotations that impede the through-plane thermal transport, while the long-range intralayer crystallinity maintains high in-plane thermal conductivity. We measure ultralow thermal conductivities in the through-plane direction for MoS 2 (57 ± 3 mW m −1  K −1 ) and WS 2 (41 ± 3 mW m −1  K −1 ) films, and we quantitatively explain these values using molecular dynamics simulations that reveal one-dimensional glass-like thermal transport. Conversely, the in-plane thermal conductivity in these MoS 2 films is close to the single-crystal value. Covering nanofabricated gold electrodes with our anisotropic films prevents overheating of the electrodes and blocks heat from reaching the device surface. Our work establishes interlayer rotation in crystalline layered materials as a new degree of freedom for engineering-directed heat transport in solid-state systems. Extremely anisotropic thermal conductors based on large-area van der Waals thin films with random interlayer rotations are reported here.