A science explainer argues that the warmth felt from sunlight is not a useful gauge of sunburn risk, since heat and UV damage come from different wavelengths acting through different mechanisms. Visible and infrared light warm the skin by exciting molecular vibrations, while UV-B (and some UV-A) causes sunburn by directly damaging DNA, a process that is painless as it happens. The piece notes UV-B is far less intense at ground level than near-infrared light, meaning far less energy is needed to damage DNA than to produce the sensation of heat.
A homeschooled boy in the UK developed erythema ab igne, a lace-like reddish-brown skin rash, after resting his laptop directly on his stomach for up to eight hours a day, often while it charged. Doctors initially suspected bruising before he explained his study habits, leading to the diagnosis. The condition faded and eventually cleared once he stopped placing the device on his skin.
UK physicians Mara Znagoveanu and Edward Artley documented a school-age boy who arrived at the emergency room with a wide, reddish-brown, net-like rash on his abdomen that nurses initially mistook for bruising. After ruling out trauma, illness and organ problems through exams, X-rays and a CT scan, the doctors traced the marks to prolonged, direct skin exposure to heat from a laptop the boy used daily, resulting in a condition known as erythema ab igne, or 'toasted skin syndrome.'
Ecologist Mira Grönroos of the Finnish Environment Institute had participants rub their hands with soil, peat and moss for 20 seconds. Even after washing with tap water, their skin showed a marked increase in the number and variety of microbes, despite looking visibly clean.
AI-powered dermatology tools designed to identify skin conditions like melanoma are becoming more accurate overall, but researchers have found these systems perform less reliably for patients with darker skin. The disparity stems largely from training datasets that contain far fewer images of skin conditions on non-white patients.
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