HackingTheUniverse

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The American Museum of Natural History recognizes students in grades 7-12 with their “Young Naturalist Awards” for research based science. Aiden is a 13 year old 7th grader from NY who won one of these awards for his research on optimizing solar panels by mimicking nature. Please read the entire article (linked below) to enjoy [...]

Celmet (cell+metal) is a porous, metallic mesh that is conductive and can store electric charge. Sumitomo Electric (SEI) has previously produced celmet using nickel based alloys, but now is producing an aluminum version that can triple the capacity of current lithium-ion batteries. This could also allow the creation of smaller and lighter batteries. Development of [...]

We are fast approaching the point where we will be able to print anything. It should be no surprise to see solar cells and panels on the list of materials that researchers are learning to print. Imagine being able to print solar panels whenever and wherever you need them at a low cost factor. While [...]

The word, “ambient” means, “from the surrounding environment”. It can mean either something that is found in the surrounding environment or something in the environment that surrounds. We have been harvesting energy from the surrounding environment from before the first glimmerings of civilization. Collecting fire from a lightening strike, damming and redirecting water, water wheels, [...]

A leaf is a biological mechanism designed to use the energy from sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and sugar, providing the plant with energy in a form it can use. This chemical process is called photosynthesis. Researchers are working on artificial leaves that can use the energy from sunlight to split [...]

An optical battery that collects charge caused by light’s magnetic field may be usable as a power source. Solar power without solar cells: A hidden magnetic effect of light could make it possible – [umich.edu] Light has electric and magnetic components. Until now, scientists thought the effects of the magnetic field were so weak that [...]

Early lasers “pumped” ruby rods with light from flash tubes creating a photon cascade that eventually produced a beam of coherent light. Recently, lasers have been developed that can produce a coherent beam of light from a silicon chip. Raman lasers are a particular type of silicon lasers. Simulations done on supercomputers have shown that [...]

There is evidence to indicate that the earliest process of conventing sunlight into storable and usable energy (photosynthesis) began around 3.4 billion years ago on this planet. Over time, the bacteria that accomplished this changed the color range of light they absorbed from infrared into the visible spectrum and changed the waste output of their [...]

Commerce in space will be driven by the demands of exchange and the economic factors involved. Raw Materials: Air and water are likely to be in high demand and even if they become somewhat abundant, will always remain treasured for their inherent importance. Food will be mostly manufactured locally, assuming you have the raw materials [...]

We know that it is possible to transmit and receive energy via electromagnetic radiation with no wires. The problem is refining the technique to make it safe and make it work beyond short distances. It should be possible with current technology to make charging points in a working (or living) environment that allow short range [...]