Billions hear of Purdue’s record for the world’s whitest paint

In 2021, Purdue University mechanical engineering professor Xiulin Ruan and his students earned a Guinness World Records^TM title for the world’s whitest paint. The paint reflects about 98% of sunlight away from a surface, potentially cooling buildings and vehicles enough to not need air conditioning.  

Since the publication of this research, the team’s work on the paint has been covered by thousands of news outlets worldwide and has now made it to the front page of The New York Times.

Following the publication of The New York Times’ story on July 12, the research has received approximately 555 additional media placements, reaching a potential audience of 548.9 million. This media attention includes coverage by CNN, MSNBC, CBS News Radio, Inside Edition, Popular Mechanics, Insider and hundreds of TV stations across the U.S.

In total, the development and promotion of this paint has garnered more than 2,600 media placements, amounting to an audience of about 4.6 billion.

New York Times: To help cool a hot planet, the whitest of white coats

CNN: Tweet by CNN anchor Brianna Keilar of her coverage

MSNBC: Tweet by MSNBC anchor Katy Tur of her coverage

CBS News Radio

Inside Edition 

Popular Mechanics: This high-tech paint could cool the world

Insider: Turns out all we may need to stop climate change is 139 billion gallons of super-duper white paint