aluminum

Your desperate solution is to cover the windows with aluminum foil

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If there is a culture shock that we Spaniards suffer when crossing the Pyrenees, it is not the meal times or the language, but the painful absence of blinds and even air conditioners. Under normal conditions, it is a simple architectural anecdote, but during a sustained heat wave like the ones we are experiencing, it becomes a public health issue. A new remedy. During the last weeks of June and the beginning of this July, France and Germany have seen thermometers exceed the dangerous barrier of 40 ° C. Temperatures for which these countries were not prepared, and that is why they are resorting to different home remediessuch as cover the glass with aluminum foil kitchen towels or thermal blankets. Two measures that respond to the desperation of seeing how their houses heat up and do not have a barrier like we can have in Spain to block the impact of the direct sun. But in addition, we are also seeing how the heat It is becoming a political weaponwith different parties promising million-dollar aid funds so that citizens can install air conditioners. It has logic. Both private homes and some hospitals in Paris have joined this initiative due to the lack of air conditioning systems, and it is not a simple TikTok eccentricity, but rather it makes a lot of sense. The reason is that aluminum has a very high reflectance, being able to bounce between 95% and 98% of solar radiation. Normally, when sunlight passes through bare glass, the energy is converted to heat as it hits the floor and interior furniture, creating the dreaded “greenhouse effect.” By placing aluminum foil or thermal blankets on the windows, the radiation rebounds before heating the room. A simple gesture that can reduce the interior temperature between 5 and 7 ºCwhich is an abysmal difference that greatly reduces the discomfort caused by such high temperatures. It is not infallible. Turning the living room into a kind of spaceship is not an architectural panacea nor is it free of problems. Here Vicent Parasie, French architect, in statements collected by La Vanguardia point that this is an “emergency, economical and superficial solution, since it does not alter the home.” The architect warns that these patches can never replace adequate sun protection elements or good insulation. In fact, he points out that if the aluminum is placed inside and without adequate space, the thermal radiation rebounds and is trapped in the glass itself. This causes extreme overheating of the glass which, in cases of severe thermal stress, can fracture or burst. On the other hand, if placed outside, domestic aluminum deteriorates quickly due to the elements. The Spanish solution. All this phenomenon has revealed the enormous structural advantage of southern Europe in the face of new climate scenarios. And the difference between Spain and France in the face of this type of extreme heat episodes lies mainly in our better response to an architectural and cultural adaptation that we already have as standard. Our Mallorcan blinds or awnings are top-of-the-line technology against heat. As we have seen, the simple gesture of lowering an awning or a blind is capable of lowering the interior temperature by 4 or 5 ºC in a safe and long-lasting way. In Xataka | Popular wisdom is not always right: the great heat myths that we should avoid in summer

If you don’t have glasses for the solar eclipse, this homemade box made with cardboard and aluminum foil works just as well.

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If you plan to see the solar eclipse on August 12, you will surely have already been researching methods to see it safely. To look directly at the Sun, x-rays, photographic negatives or any of the tricks that were recommended in the past are not useful. We can hurt our eyes a lot. Only approved glasses are valid. However, if you do not have or do not want to buy them, you can always resort to indirect methods, such as pinhole camera. It is an ideal method to use with children, since you can see the solar eclipse without risk And, what’s more, they have a good time making the box. Of course, it is a perfect plan to do as a family. We tell you everything you need to do it. Materials The materials to make the pinhole camera are very simple. First of all, you need a cardboard box. It may be worth an empty cereal container or shoe box. You also need a white piece of paper, a piece of aluminum foil, tape, a pencil, scissors and a thumbtack. How is the pinhole camera made? To make the pinhole camera, first we need to draw one of the shortest sides of the cardboard box on the sheet of paper. For example, the base of the cereal box. We place it on the sheet of paper, draw the outline and then cut it out. We must glue the resulting piece of paper inside, on the bottom of the box. Next, at the opposite end of the box, two square-shaped holes should be made. If we have a cereal box, which has that side open, we would have to glue a piece of cardboard in the middle, so that the two square openings on the sides can be seen. In this NASA publication there is a video that shows how it should look.. Then, cover one of the openings with aluminum foil secured with adhesive tape. Also, make a small hole in the center of the aluminum foil with a thumbtack. With this the pinhole camera would be ready. How to use it to view the solar eclipse? To use the pinhole camera we must position ourselves with our backs to the sun and look through the hole that doesn’t have aluminum foil. The sun’s rays enter through the small hole in the aluminum foil, which acts as if it were the lens of a camera, so that the image behind it is projected on the blank paper that we place at the bottom of the box. It should be noted that, logically, this device only works during partial solar eclipse. When totality is reached and the Moon completely covers the Sun, there is hardly any light that can enter through the hole, so there will be no projections to look at. The good thing is that, only during that totality, you can look at the sun directly, without glasses. Of course, you have to be very clear when the totality begins and when it ends, since with very little light we can damage our retinas. In short, this is a good way to indirectly see the partial solar eclipse without the need for approved glasses. If you are in one of the places within the band of totality, once it begins, you can look at the Sun directly, but be careful not to go too far. Unless you are in a town like Lerín, where The bells will ring to warn when totality begins and endsget away from the slightest ray that appears. Image | POT In Xataka | The trio of eclipses that await Spain on the horizon: an unprecedented and historic chain between 2026 and 2028

We know that all things are in crisis due to the closure of Hormuz, but the aluminum thing is truly worrying

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The world economy has come face to face with a scenario that no one wanted to foresee. The global aluminum market is facing what analysts and experts already classify as a “black swan” event. The Third Gulf War has caused a drastic closure in shipping routes, triggering a supply crisis of historic proportions. An unprecedented crisis. “The magnitude of the supply crisis that we are seeing in the aluminum market is probably the largest single supply crisis that a base metals market has suffered in the post-2000 era,” Nick Snowdon, head of metals and mining research at the trading firm Mercuria, summarized it forcefully. in statements collected by the agency Reuters. And the numbers support the alarm: the Persian Gulf region has a smelting capacity of 7 million metric tons annually. That is, almost 9% of this year’s global supply is at the epicenter of a war conflict. A logistical bottleneck. The implications of this blockage go far beyond financial speculation, as aluminum is the backbone of vital industries such as transportation, construction and packaging. Natalie Scott-Gray, Senior Metals Demand Analyst in StoneXfocuses on logistical asphyxiation. According to the expert, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz does not have an easy solution, since “there are no other maritime routes that have a similar capacity.” This disruption, Scott-Gray explains, has the potential to eliminate up to 50% of the Middle East’s aluminum supply, equivalent to a direct 5% hit to global production. In Europe, the impact has already jumped from offices to factories. According to the specialized portal Miningconsumers in the construction and transportation sector are being squeezed. In Rotterdam, the physical premium (the extra cost paid above the market price to ensure delivery) for aluminum extrusion ingots has more than doubled since the start of the war, rising from $530 to $1,100 per metric ton. And the perfect storm arrives. The market has reacted with panic. According to data from Reutersfear of shortages triggered prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) to a four-year high, reaching $3,672 per ton in mid-April. Since the start of hostilities, the reference price has risen by 14%, how it complements Financial Times. What follows this crisis is an imminent structural deficit. Mercuria estimates that the market will face a minimum deficit of 2 million tons by the end of the year, an alarming figure if we consider that visible global inventories are barely around one and a half million tons. The West is particularly vulnerable. The United States imported almost 22% of its aluminum from the Middle East last year, while Europe relied on the region for 18.5% of its imports. Safety nets are failing: Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA) has been forced to declare status of “force majeure” in several European contracts after suffering an Iranian attack on its foundry in the United Arab Emirates. Simultaneously, Kubal, the only Swedish foundry (owned by the Russian Rusal), has mysteriously stopped its deliveries in Europefurther straining short-term availability. The “kings” of chaos. This aluminum shock does not occur in a vacuum; It is the symptom of a greater illness. Daniel Yergin, vice president of S&P Global, warned in Bloomberg that we are facing “the biggest energy disruption we have ever seen.” The impact transcends oil, affecting natural gas, fertilizers and metals. Aluminum production is extremely energy intensive, so rising fuel prices are driving up the costs of foundries around the world. However, in a troubled river, fishermen gain. While manufacturers suffer, the giants of commodity trading are making a move. He Financial Times reveals that the Swiss firm Mercuria has begun aggressive expansion, investing more than $3 billion in base metals. In a strategic shift, they have gone from simply financing shipments to purchasing real assets, acquiring 25% of an aluminum smelter in Indonesia. “We have both the appetite and the capacity to do more,” he assured the British newspaper Kostas Bintashead of metals at Mercuria, confirming that the company is firmly committed to this metal in the midst of the chaos. The clock is ticking. The current crisis has mutated, In the words of Yergin to Bloombergin a clash between two blockades: American economic pressure versus Tehran’s ability to “wage war on the world economy”. The paradox is that this energy and logistics bottleneck will end up accelerating the transition to electric vehicles and will force countries to redesign their energy security. But in the short term, reality is stubborn. As the analysis concludes ReutersMiddle Eastern aluminum simply cannot be replaced overnight. China, the world’s largest producer, has a strict legal annual production limit of 45 million tonnes, and neither the United States nor Europe have enough idle capacity they can turn on to salvage the situation. The “black swan” has landed, and the global industry will have to learn to survive in a scenario where aluminum, once abundant, has become a treasure caught in the crossfire. Image | Magnificent Xataka | Iran has pulled out a “trick” to sell to China while avoiding the US: turning the ocean into its secret gas station

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