Funny things, cars is. The new car in my driveway probably has more electronics in it than the rocket that went to the moon. Depending on the vehicle, it can shut off half its cylinders when it doesn't need them, switch between gasoline engine or electric motor, monitor its own emissions, keep the driver cool and the passenger warm, pull satellite signals out of the sky, figure out the air pressure in each tire, and even hit its own brakes if the driver isn't paying attention.
And yet, when it comes to the thermostat, an essential little piece of hardware that controls coolant flow, keeping the engine from running too hot or too cold, it depends on a mechanical valve that uses a spring, a rod, and wax that melts or firms up to make it work.
That little Sputnik in the photo is a design by Mileage Matrix that intends to replace the thermostat, keeping the engine temperature right where it belongs at all times for optimum use.
A much better system, and it's surprising that it took so long for someone to come up with it. Still, it just ain't the same as dropping the old-style ones into a pan of boiling water to see if they still work, or remembering to change from the hot-running one to the cold-running one as part of the rites of spring ...
