Heating and cooling of coronal loops observed by SDO

Context. One of the most prominent processes to have been suggested as heating the corona to well above 106 K builds on nanoflares, which are short bursts of energy dissipation. Aims. We compare observations to model predictions to test the validity of the nanoflare process. Methods. Using extreme UV data from AIA/SDO and HMI/SDO line-of-sight magnetograms, we study the spatial and temporal evolution of a set of loops in active region AR 11850. Results. We find a transient brightening of loops in emission from Fe xvii