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The house paints that promise much more than colour

Paints now promise to make your house cooler, warmer, or simply peel off.

There’s no independent validation of that claim just yet, but there are already a range of insulating paints on the market that promise to reduce your heating bills and, it is fair to note, they have not always performed well in scientific evaluations. In their case, the paint contains tiny nanoparticles inspired by the extremely reflective body of the Saharan silver ant – which must naturally cope with baking sunshine. Researchers have noted that highly reflective coatings for passive cooling applications need to be resistant to dirt and soiling, for example, to avoid their efficacy dropping overt time.

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