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Self-Assembling Photovoltaic Tech From MIT
telomerewhythere writes "Michael Strano and his team at MIT have made a self-assembling and indefinitely repairable photovoltaic cell based on the principle found in chloroplasts inside plant cells. 'The system Strano's team produced is made up of seven different compounds, including the carbon nanotubes, the phospholipids, and the proteins that make up the reaction centers, which under the right conditions spontaneously assemble themselves into a light-harvesting structure that produces an electric current. Strano says he believes this sets a record for the complexity of a self-assembling system. When a surfactant is added to the mix, the seven components all come apart and form a soupy solution. Then, when the researchers removed the surfactant, the compounds spontaneously assembled once again into a perfectly formed, rejuvenated photocell.'"
I'm reading the Diamond Age right now. Can't wait to pirate me some nanos for my daughter.
The eternal struggle of good vs. evil begins within one's self.
And now they will have patented the hell out of the technology so no-one touches it without having to pay. Of course, this is the way universities make money. Ugh. I still hate the "patent courses" we got in our engineering education. .. And the teams of helpful university people in the patent office, just chomping at the bit to harvest yet another patent. ... or maybe I am just being too negative.
Every experiment which ends in a big bang is a good experiment.
I actually read TFA! Very interesting. That is all. *sips coffee*
... we spill enough of this stuff into the ocean?
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars