Purple Pokeberry

This story highlights one of the problems with science. There are a near-infinite number of substances that must be tested and experimented with, to see their effect upon this or that other body or substance.

Gotta find the optimal temperature at which substances are reactive. And it could be a wasted experiment unless you hit it with JUST ENOUGH blue light from an argon laser, just to note one example out of trillions.

And then the possibilities are multiplied further when a combination of two substances produces a different effect upon a third body that neither of them displayed when used separately.

And then you have all the potential combinations of THREE substances together acting quite differently than only two of the ingredients. With just enough heat. And light. Etc. Etc. Etc.

I hope we can come up with the right combinations of things before we ... uh ... exterminate ourselves.

On the other hand, if you are a "true believer" in the Bible, well, you already have all the answers you need. God is the answer to damn-near every question, brother. There's no point in exploring or experimenting. You already got all you need. And all you need is God.

(sigh)

Solar on the Cheap: Thanks Purple Pokeberry!
Monday 13 September 2010

by: Arnie Cooper | Miller-McCune | News

A dye made from the purple pokeberry — a common weed — proves uncommonly effective at juicing up the prospects for solar power.

"A valueless plant growing wild…" might be dictionary.com's definition of purple pokeberries, but David Carroll, director of Wake Forest University's Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials, says the omnipresent "weed" will soon play a role in improving solar power in places ranging from residential green building in the United States to areas in the developing world cut off from the power grid.

Carroll says a red dye made from pokeberries can be used to coat a new type of solar cell that's produced from millions of tiny plastic fibers. Unlike traditional solar units, fiber cells — thanks to a patented design that exposes more surface area to the sun's rays — can produce a usable amount of power even at sunrise and sunset. (Carroll has created a spin-off company, FiberCell Inc., which is producing the first prototype cells.)

The dye acts as an absorber helping the cell's tiny fibers trap significantly more sunlight during the day, compared to current solar systems, that then gets converted into energy. The technology is especially promising because it is able to generate twice the total kilowatt-hours per day than traditional silicon-based units.

Too late! Too bad ... the rest here.