Phase Change Materials. wmv

I remember the Cincinnati Bengal mascot coming to our school a decade or so ago, back when Becky and I were running the Pasta for Pennies campaign (and raising $30K-40K in a month doncha know). He was there for what we called the Wacky Olympics, a celebratory picnic and bunch of games that we held at the end of our fundraising year. We would have grade-level (and staff) teams compete in stupid games (pass the orange, four-legged race, stuff like that), eat hot dogs, drink punch, and generally have a blast.

One year the local Leukemia and Lymphoma Society chapter arranged for the Bengal mascot to come out and celebrate with our students. It happened to be a nice, 85-degree day, though, so I was a little worried that our mascot would end up with heatstroke. He explained to me that he had 'ice packs' that weren't really ice under his costume. Those packs were filled with a material that undergoes a phase change from solid to liquid at around 70^oF, meaning that they'll have a stable temperature at that range for a long time, keeping the mascot-suit-wearing human close to that temperature for a long time.

The video up top shows a material similar to that being used in wall materials to keep the office at a fairly stable 23^oC (73.4^oF).

The videos below show something a little more like what the mascot wore under his costume.







How cool is that?