How oysters can stop a flood. Bionic leaf turns sunlight into liquid fuel: New system surpasses efficiency of photosynthesis. The days of drilling into the ground in the search for fuel may be numbered, because if Daniel Nocera has his way, it'll just be a matter of looking for sunny skies.
Nocera, the Patterson Rockwood Professor of Energy at Harvard University, and Pamela Silver, the Elliott T. and Onie H. Adams Professor of Biochemistry and Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School, have co-created a system that uses solar energy to split water molecules and hydrogen-eating bacteria to produce liquid fuels. The paper, whose lead authors include post-doctoral fellow Chong Liu and graduate student Brendan Colón, is described in a June 3 paper published in Science.
"This is a true artificial photosynthesis system," Nocera said. "Before, people were using artificial photosynthesis for water-splitting, but this is a true A-to-Z system, and we've gone well over the efficiency of photosynthesis in nature. " "This is the genius of Dan," Silver said. "If you think about it, photosynthesis is amazing," he said.
Plant-e.com Home. Astonishing water-sensitive building material by Chao Chen acts just like pine cones. Royal College of Art design student Chao Chen has developed a revolutionary new building material that responds to the presence of water.
After observing the hydro-sensitive behavior of pine cones, which open and close depending upon their exposure to water, Chen has developed a wood laminate material that similarly bends and flexes in response to atmospheric humidity, soil moisture or rain. Applications for the technology include shelters that seal up when it rains and building cladding that opens to let in more light on a dull, drizzly day but closes to block out heat when the weather is hot and dry. Chen’s inspiration for the Water Reaction Project grew from his past observations of pine cones: the cones are open when they are dry, but close up in the presence of water to prevent their seeds from rotting.
As Chen explained to Fast Co Design, “Each pine cone has two layers. When it gets wet, the outer layer elongates more than the inner layer and closes in on itself. . ” + Chao Chen. 'Green' solar cell is made from plants. The electronics giant is projecting stronger-than-expected sales this holiday even after delivering better-than-anticipated revenue in the September quarter.
The only negative was another drop in iPad sales. Here's another feature found in the iPhone 6: The ability to propel Apple to another blowout quarter. The Cupertino, Calif., electronics giant on Monday reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue and earnings that topped Wall Street expectations. It also projected stronger sales for the current period than analysts anticipated and sold more iPhones than anticipated. The only negative remained iPad sales, which dropped for the third consecutive quarter and fell below Mac revenue for the first time in years. "Our fiscal 2014 was one for the record books, including the biggest iPhone launch ever with iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a press release.
Shares closed Monday up 2 percent to $99.76 and rose another percent to $100.80 in after-hours trading. Kalundborg Symbiosis. Genius of Biome Report by HOK. TED talks related to Biomimicry. Biomimicry. Biomimicry Institute - Home. Biomimicry 3.8.