Saturday, May 05, 2007

Goin' Green

Goin' Green or learning how photosynthesis actually works has been a largely thankless task prior to the invention of femtosecond lasers,esoteric devices able to peer into the most elusive acts of nature by generating pulses shorter than a " timescale of a millionth of a millionth of a second."

With this tech, researchers at the Biodesign Institute at ASU learned that "the (photosynthetic) reaction center proteins (they convert incoming photons to electrons) work for electrons in a way similar to how a slow moving elevator with no doors would work for people. The electrons are able to get off at the spot that they need to because the protein motion adjusts the energetics until it is just right. Even if the elevator starts a little too high or low (initial "photonic" energies are not optimal), the people (electrons) can still get off on the right floor." By adjusting the energy levels in this manner, the plant is able to use this electronic energy to produce food in elegant fashion.

Because this process works so well (98%+) and is packaged so efficiently, it's no wonder that duplicating this process in organic solar collector design would not only transform how the world uses energy but also how new products would be developed as compact, on-board photosynthetic energy collectors integrated with solid state energy storage hardware would drive devices in ways impossible to imagine when compared with the bulky, environmentally hostile and inefficient power supplies of today.

When combined with FAB, everything will change...one hopes, for the better.
"God must be a boogyman." Joni Mitchell

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