Chill out: freezing temperatures produced by letting a stressed alloy relax

A device has been built that relies on a solid-state phenomenon called the elastocaloric effect to produce cooling to temperatures below 0 °C, lower than existing room-temperature elastocaloric cooling systems are able to achieve. The innovation demonstrates that elastocaloric technology could offer an alternative to conventional freezing systems that use volatile greenhouse gases. Tubes of a modified nickel titanium alloy undergo compression–release cycles to reach a steady low of −12 °C.