Environmental sensors and wearable devices will collect data on how our body reacts to extreme heat and activate relief efforts. It talks about it in Trieste Next
There is nothing to do: with the extreme heat of these months we will have to continue to live together. The ongoing climate change does not bode well and so better be prepared. Will technologies help us better withstand high temperatures, despite the limitations of human physiology? And how? Technologies can certainly improve the way we approach the problem. I believe they can give us more immediate access to how human physiology responds to heat waves, it responds Nicholas Ravanelli, a professor at Lakehead University, Canada. Italian roots (the grandparents emigrated to Canada in the 1950s), 32, Ravanelli a physiologist expert in thermoregulation and cardiovascular responses. At the eleventh edition of the Trieste Next Festival, Ravanelli will meet with other Italian and international experts on the subject Life at the extremes: the impact of climate change on medicine and health(Life in extreme situations: the impact of climate change on medicine and health).
Technologies to cool the environment
The Canadian expert studies how different categories of people (young, old, sick) respond to thermal stress. Not only that: among his research fields there is that of technologies to cool rooms (and patients) during heat waves. Technology can be leveraged in various ways to improve the heat resilience strategies of our communities and protect individuals from the consequences of extreme heat. This can take various forms, including, but not limited to, early mobilization of health action plansgreater dissemination of educational strategies prior to extreme heat events or the provision of individual-specific heat resilience strategies that could be adopted more effectively and efficiently.
Technology and biosensors
During extreme heat events, digital technology and wearable biosensors could help monitor the health of individuals in the event of heat waves and potentially provide more immediate health care which could be of value to people who may not have immediate access to facilities or services. Radishes developed some application models to evaluate the thermal risk and is driving the development of an integrated system to study the effects of the environment on human physiological responses during heat waves.
The digital platform
We looked for an “all in one” solution to allow us to conduct what would typically be limited to laboratory experiments, in more ecologically sound scenarios — he recounts -. This platform, funded through the New Frontiers in Research Fund by the government of Canada, let us assess how people typically respond during heat waves in their natural environments (ie their homes) under different aspects: physiological, environmental and behavioral. This solution will also allow for larger ecologically sound studies to evaluate the effectiveness of cooling solutions during real-world extreme heat events. If technology bodes well, there are for some priorities: I believe that we must urgently implement resilience strategies accessible, safe and efficient heat sources to protect our communities from the negative consequences of extreme heat events, he concludes.
The Trieste Next Scientific Research Festival
The eleventh edition of the Scientific Research Festival will take place in Trieste from 22 to 24 September. The theme around which the initiative revolves: The boundaries of science. Innovation and research: ethical limits and new frontiers. In 2022, declared by the UN the International Year of Basic Science for Sustainability, in which the ICTP (International Centre for Theoretical Physics di Trieste) will play a key role and 75 anniversary of the first observation of synchrotron light, Trieste Next will face a new challenge from an international perspective, in three days with over 300 speakers and one hundred events including talks, conferences, seminars and workshops edited by the institutions of Trieste City of Knowledge. Also in this edition, Friday morning will be dedicated to primary and secondary schools in the region. For more information: triestenext.it.
September 19, 2022 (change September 19, 2022 | 20:28)
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