What exactly is a swamp cooler, and why can it beat the heat in Arizona but leave you sweaty and betrayed in Houston? How can an air conditioner run on water, what does humidity have to do with its effectiveness, and could an icy new invention help prevent overloaded power grids? In the final installment of our air-conditioning series, Melissa and Jam explore evaporative cooling, ancient climate-control tricks, and some promising innovations for a hotter world. It turns out “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity” is more scientifically accurate, and more annoying, than we’d like.

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Timestamps

00:00 — The happier finale to our air-conditioning trilogy
00:37 — What exactly is a swamp cooler?
02:34 — How water can be used as a refrigerant
04:16 — The benefits and drawbacks of evaporative cooling
06:26 — Why air can only hold so much water
08:08 — How much can a swamp cooler lower the temperature?
08:56 — Why swamp coolers only work in certain climates
09:47 — Are refrigerants basically reusable sweat?
12:55 — Jam explains the complete swamp-cooler process
15:45 — Ancient evaporative cooling technology
17:19 — Could swamp coolers affect indoor air quality?
18:40 — An ice-slurry air conditioner designed to relieve the power grid
25:06 — Could underground temperatures heat and cool our homes?

References from the Episode:

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