A team from the independent 3D MAKE-tank Emerging Objects has come up with a 3D printed "brick" that can cool a room with just water. According to the Emerging Objects website:
Inspired by the Muscatese Evaporative cooling window, which combines a wood screen, or mashrabiya, and a ceramic vessel filled with water, the “cool brick” masonry system is used to build walls that passively cool interiors in desert environments. Comprised of 3D printed porous ceramic bricks set in mortar, each brick absorbs water like a sponge and is designed as a three dimensional lattice that allows air to pass through the wall.
It wouldn't work well in humid locales, but could this be the future of air conditioning? Read More