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      Wearable solar-powered gadget automatically regulates body temperature

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Thursday, 4 January - 19:44

    Image of a smiling person inside a spacesuit, with a solar panel and the blackness of space behind him.

    Enlarge / While the devices probably aren't compact enough for casual wear, they could integrate with technical clothing. (credit: NASA )

    There is only so much heat—or cold—that the human body can take. This can be a problem in extreme environments, from subzero polar temperatures to the ruthless heat of the Sahara, and it doesn’t stop at Earth. Maintaining temperature is also an issue for astronauts. The vacuum of space is a gargantuan freezer, and exposure to direct sunlight out there can be just as brutal as the cold.

    Clothing tech that regulates body temperature usually goes only one way: heating or cooling. It also tends to be bulky and needs substantial energy that eventually drains any batteries. What if there was a system that both heat and cool while running on a constant renewable energy source?

    A team of researchers, led by Ziyuan Wang of Nankai University in Tianjin, China, has created a flexible, solar-powered device that can be incorporated into clothing and regulate the body by actively heating or cooling the skin. It also works continuously for 24 hours and only needs sunlight to recharge.

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      How to Remove Pet Hair From Your Washing Machine and Dryer

      pubsub.dcentralisedmedia.com / LifehackerAustralia · Sunday, 10 July, 2022 - 15:00 · 2 minutes

    As much as we love our pets, sometimes our furry friends provide us with more than love and affection: They also leave hair all over our homes and clothing. And while there are ways to deal with the fur coating everything you own, somehow, no matter what you do, some always ends up in the laundry.

    There are a few reasons for this, including the fact that your washing machine and dryer probably need to be cleaned. Here’s how to do that, along with some other ways to remove pet hair from your laundry.

    How to remove pet hair from your washing machine

    Let’s start with your washer. Even when you shake your clothes and linens out before putting them in, there always seems to be fur when it comes out. Here’s how to deal with that:

    Clean the machine

    Before anything else, try cleaning your washer. You can do this by putting 1/2 cup of white vinegar into the empty drum, and running it through a complete cycle. When it’s finished, wipe it down with a clean, damp, lint-free cloth.

    Put them in the dryer first

    Another option is to pop your laundry in the dryer before washing it. The idea here is to loosen the pet hair on the fabric so it ends up in the lint trap. It only needs to tumble for about 10 minutes on a low-heat or no-heat setting. Adding a slightly damp clean cloth to the load, along with a dryer sheet or wool dryer balls can help remove more of the fur that’s stuck to everything else.

    Rinse your clothes with vinegar

    Add 1/2 cup white vinegar during the rinse cycle when washing a load of laundry that you know is coated in pet hair or lint. This softens the fabric, which can help release trapped fur.

    How to remove pet hair from your dryer

    Even if you take steps to get rid of pet hair in your washer, you know that somehow, at least a bit of it is going to make its way into your dryer. Here are a few ways to keep it from getting on your clothes:

    Clean it

    Again, it’s best to start out with a clean dryer. In addition to cleaning out the lint trap after every load, take a minute to wipe down the drum of the dryer using a damp, lint-free cloth to get rid of any hair in there.

    Use dryer sheets

    Drying your laundry using dryer sheets can make a difference, as their antistatic properties help pull pet hair off the fabric and into the lint trap. Though any dryer sheet will work, you can also opt to purchase ones specifically made for removing pet hair and lint, which tend to be around the same price.

    Use wool dryer balls

    Not into dryer sheets? Reusable wool dryer balls are a great alternative, providing the same hair-loosening power as sheets, but without the scent and creating waste. Plus, they increase airflow in the dryer, which also helps remove fur from your laundry.

    The post How to Remove Pet Hair From Your Washing Machine and Dryer appeared first on Lifehacker Australia .

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      5 Types of Masks and How to Use Them

      pubsub.dcentralisedmedia.com / LifehackerAustralia · Tuesday, 9 February, 2021 - 00:53 · 4 minutes

    With the new coronavirus variants still hitting headlines, masking up is more important than ever. But which masks are best? Sadly there isn’t a rigorous ranking or standard to rely on, but we know a few things about different options. So let’s take a tour, starting with the best ones.

    N95 masks

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    N95s are the gold standard for pandemic prevention, but they’re also not easy to find. If you do manage to snag some, check that they’re not counterfeit masks that have been relabelled or improperly sold.

    How to Spot a Counterfeit N95 Mask

    N95 respirator masks are more effective at stopping coronavirus-containing droplets than disposable surgical or cloth masks. But since they’re in such high demand, there’s a booming market in counterfeit and mislabeled masks. Recently, authorities in Hong Kong seized 100,000 fake N95s that they say were intended for the overseas market.

    Read more

    N95 Equivalents

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    A lot of us still can’t get N95s — they remain in short supply, and are the type most needed by healthcare professionals. But other countries have their own standards that provide similar protection. Those would be KN95’s from China, KF94’s from South Korea, and FFP2’s from Europe . The catch: there are counterfeit models out there, so check the manufacturer and make sure you get what you’re paying for.

    Also in this category are elastomeric masks, the rubbery ones you can buy at a hardware store that look sort of like a gas mask. Yes, they’re heavy and sweaty, but they give good protection and last a long time. These masks use replaceable filters, but you don’t have to change them as often as you would an N95.

    Whichever you choose, make sure the mask fits well, with a good seal around all edges of the mask.

    Double masking

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    Doubling up on masks enhances their ability to filter the particles (including aerosol droplets) that you would otherwise breathe in. One popular and affordable combo goes like this:

    1. Put on a disposable (surgical-style) mask. Adjust the fit, making sure the metal piece at the top is fitted snugly around your nose.
    2. Top that with a cloth mask. Again, it must fit well.

    When you’re doubling up, it’s especially important to make sure you aren’t creating jets of warm air at the sides of your nose or the back of your cheeks. If that happens, it means air is going around your mask, not through it.

    Are Two Masks Really Better Than One?

    Cloth masks, by themselves, were never the best option for everybody to wear during a pandemic; they were, instead, just the best way to get a lot of masks to a lot of people without too much of an effect on supplies for healthcare workers.

    Read more

    A properly constructed cloth mask

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    Reusable fabric masks have become pandemic wardrobe staples. If you can wear one over a disposable mask, great! If not, make sure you’re using a good mask that is properly constructed.

    It should have multiple layers of fabric, and be tightly woven. A quick spot-check is to hold it up to the light. If you can see through it, it’s too flimsy to do much good. (It also won’t be acceptable for use while travelling .)

    And beware masks with a built-in valve. Your breath comes straight out of those valves , spewing your germs all over whoever is around. Check to see if the valve can be clicked closed — some can — and if not, tape over it.

    If Your Mask Has a Valve, It’s Half Useless

    If you’re wearing a face mask with a little plastic valve embedded in it, you should know that valves compromise the effectiveness of the mask — and this is true whether your mask is a hardware-store N95 or a designer cloth mask.

    Read more

    Bandanas and scarves

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    Now we come to the bottom of the barrel, the things that are technically “face coverings” but that don’t fit as snugly or provide as many layers of protection as a proper cloth mask. We don’t recommend these in place of more effective masks.

    There was a study early in the pandemic that insinuated neck gaiters may be worse than no mask at all, but the evidence for that statement was never very strong . We do know, though, that those gaiters have several features that mean they don’t fit the definition of a good mask. Their fabric is thin, they tend to leak around the sides of the nose, and the threads that make up the fabric form fairly large holes. If you do wear a buff in place of a mask, at the very least double or triple the layers.

    No, Neck Gaiters Weren’t Proven to be Worse Than No Face Mask

    There’s a new study claiming that neck gaiters like Buffs are worse than not wearing a mask at all. I’m not convinced that this study should be taken at face value, but it’s also reasonable to be suspicious of Buffs, bandanas, and other face coverings that aren’t designed to do...

    Read more

    Likewise, bandanas and scarves are not snug-fitting enough to do the job, and they’re usually too thin as well. These coverings could go well over another mask, bringing us back to the double-masking category from a few slides back. Adding protection isn’t a bad idea. But don’t count on these on their own.

    The post 5 Types of Masks and How to Use Them appeared first on Lifehacker Australia .