Hot and Cold

For some people, not knowing whether to dress warm or cold is not just a month of May problem - it could last most year. So having shirt that can keep you warm or cold based on which side is up would be a perfect solution. This is great for traveling too as you get exposed to different weather conditions along the way and your destination could be exactly opposite of where you came from - maybe the very point of your journey. Its nifty that the fabric can also generate some power, maybe there is a way to make it a phone charger too. 

On the warm side, the material is covered in zinc and copper nanoparticles, which absorb solar energy. There’s a term for that type of mechanism, which is appropriately called a solar absorber. It’s basically a solar panel, but instead of turning sunlight into electricity, it turns sunlight into heat. This warm side even works at night, albeit to a lesser degree, when it can warm your skin by 5 degrees.

On the cool side, the fabric is covered with an extremely thin layer of aluminum. This surface still looks like fabric, but the aluminum reflects light like a mirror, so all that solar energy that would stick around as heat bounces right off your shirt. This layer is also porous, allowing steam to evaporate.