Yes hot. So hot. And that’s not the worst. The worst part is that it will do so much more. Not because of a climatic issue (also), but because we are still in the spring. We thought this might be the case to alleviate our thermal anxiety. it’s a good idea to check out what’s going on in the hottest places in the world.

And to tell the truth, the moment we approach people like Tuaregs, the first temptation is to think that they are insane: to cover themselves from head to toe, to wear dark clothes and to drink hot tea… What does it all mean? Logical. wow yes it is.

Where are you going in black like this?

Muadh Tobok

Maybe the first thing that catches your eye The Tuaregs, in short, are getting dark. The characteristic blue veils and dark-almost black tunics (‘gandoras’) are one of the most interesting features of these Berber people, who have survived in the desert since at least the Middle Ages. It may seem strange, especially considering that for us ‘heat’ and ‘white’ are almost synonymous, but (of course) there is an explanation.

Let’s start with the most basic. We call light a massive (and very diverse) set of waves from the sun. Most of these waves are absorbed by the object they hit. and at that very moment they warm it up. Colors have something to do with it: we see things according to the waves they absorb (and not absorb). In fact, black is the visual perception of a surface that absorbs all visible light areas; likewise that white is due to “bounce” of all visible light ranges.

true in this sense black absorbs radiation (up to 98% of solar radiation) and gets hotter by recoil. In this sense, light fabrics look better because they heat up less in the sun. And if we only take this factor into account, we will be right.

But the world doesn’t work that way. In general, we can understand that the level of protection a garment offers against the sun depends on three factors: the texture of the fabric (tight knit fabrics or fabrics block the penetration of ultraviolet rays better), the thickness (the greater the thickness, the greater the protection) and color (dark ones, as we say, allow the rays to penetrate). better prevent its passage).

In the case at hand, the moment we factor the breeze into the equation, we realize that things have changed. Because breeze is one of the most powerful natural cooling systems; If we want to facilitate the effect (and it would be quite incomprehensible not to do it in the desert), we will need large presses to facilitate the breeze to quickly remove the surface heat of our body: this will make us playing with the rest of the factors so insulation from the sun and its rays is optimal.

Hot beers?

Christian Weiss

Another striking thing is, hot drink consumption These are made in traditional cultures of warmer parts of the world (in Africa or Asia). Of course they get attention because we usually don’t stop thinking the same advice the authorities and the media give us on heat. Quoting our colleagues at DAP, “as a general rule, our summer motto should be to eat foods that contain plenty of water, help regulate our body temperature, and are not dehydrating.”

This leads us to the following conclusion: It is recommended to drink hot drinks when they are very hot, because they helps regulate body temperature more efficiently than cold drinks. There are dozens of scientific studies proving this (here’s an example), and the mechanism is simple: an increase in the body’s heat load from drinking a hot beverage causes an increase in global sweat production, whose evaporation compensates for the increase. from internal heat. First of all, because hot drinks are digested very quickly (the same doesn’t happen with strong foods).

By the way, there is a similar logic behind the consumption of spicy foods. The heat we feel (and it’s not real) finishes danto good thermal results to the organism.

Image | Tatania Zanon