Fan-cooled beds and baby carriers are gadgets to beat heat

Toray Industries Inc’s protective clothing displayed at the Heat Solution Expo in Tokyo, Japan. Simultaneous heat waves are suffocating the US, much of Europe and parts of Asia and its already enough to put 2023 on a likely trajectory to become the warmest year since record-keeping began in the 1800s. — Bloomberg

As extreme heat blankets the globe from Phoenix to Athens, entrepreneurs are responding with an array of personal cooling devices that can help reduce health risks for everyone from infants to outdoor workers.

At Tokyo’s annual Extreme Heat Countermeasures Exhibition last week the focus was on how to keep workers in high-temperature environments, like construction sites and factories, cool and reduce the risk of heat stroke. As fossil fuel emissions accelerate climate change and with July set to become the world’s hottest month on record, there is growing appetite for the products from consumers and public institutions.