A new material responds to the body’s heat and wetness to help keep us at a comfortable temperature at all times.
Your own heat dial: The new fabric is the first to automatically warm wearers up or cool them down as needed. When you’re feeling hot, the fabric lets infrared radiation (heat, to you and me) pass through. But when you’re colder, it traps the heat in.
How it works: It was engineered using yarn created with fibers made of two different synthetic materials: one that absorbs water and one that repels it. The strands are coated with carbon nanotubes. When the material gets hot and wet—when you’re sweating, for example—the strands twist and warp, tightening it up. This process activates the nanotube coating, which lets heat pass through, almost like the body’s pores.