Engineers in the USA have made a super-thin material that can cool buildings. The amazing new material can cool things even under the hot sun. The material does not need energy or water to work. It could do the work of air conditioners, which need a lot of energy and water. The material is not like anything in nature. It is a mix of glass and plastic and is just 50 micrometers thick – about the same as the aluminium foil we use for cooking.
The engineers explained how the material works. When it is put on top of something, two things happen. First, it cools the thing under it by reflecting the sun's rays. Second, the material takes away heat from the thing underneath. An engineer said he was excited about the chance to use it "in the power industry, aerospace, agriculture and more". Just 10 square meters of the material could cool down a house in the summer.