These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser.
Ember founder and CEO Clay Alexander invented the Ember Mug, the temperature-controlled coffee cup first sold at Starbucks in 2016. But he didn’t want that to be his legacy. “What can we do with our temperature-control technology that can help save lives?” Alexander recalls thinking. Unsteady temperatures can be disastrous when shipping and storing medical products, so he created the Ember Cube, a reusable shipping box with built-in sensors that track the temperature of medical liquids and adjust settings accordingly using the company’s proprietary refrigeration system. This year, the Boston Marathon used the Cube to ship blood samples to Utah for drug testing, a trial that led to an Ember partnership with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
More Must-Reads From TIME
- The 100 Most Influential People of 2024
- How Far Trump Would Go
- Why Maternity Care Is Underpaid
- Scenes From Pro-Palestinian Encampments Across U.S. Universities
- Saving Seconds Is Better Than Hours
- Why Your Breakfast Should Start with a Vegetable
- Welcome to the Golden Age of Ryan Gosling
- Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time