Even if you don’t exactly understand the physics behind how a solar panel works, you know it collects energy from the sun and transmits it into usable energy. Or maybe you don’t. Nevertheless, the problem with these solar (sun, anyone?) panels/collectors was that they cannot collect and transmit energy at night.

At least not anymore. Researchers at the Idaho National Laboratory have found a way to collect energy from the sun during both day and night. They twisted and molded millions of tiny pieces of metal into micro-antennas that can be fitted onto any material. The spiraled micro-antennas are about 1/25 the width of a human hair — so small that they resonate with the infrared rays of the sun.

Because this material soaks up so much energy during the day, they continue resonating at night, which collects even more [non-usable] energy. Although the panel can collect energy, scientists are still trying to figure out a way to transmit the rays into usable energy. The nano-antennas generate a current that has a frequency which oscillates ten thousand billion times a second. This frequency is way too much for the average appliance to handle, but the scientists think they can find a solution.

From the research they’ve done so far, they think they can hit an efficiency rating of 80%. It also is extremely cheap, since the process does not rely on traditional high-grade silicon.

Of course, why don’t we just build an air tree like Madrid did. It’s more attractive than a sheet of metal, anway!

It’s the longest-running continual battle since the Hundred Years’ War, and there’ll soon be a new weapon at the front.  It’s the battle between the postal carrier and the dog.  Every year, thousands of postmen are bitten, and every year the current anti-dog peppermint spray is proven inadequate on the field of combat.   It’s […]

One of the most important rules of any criminal is learning how to hide in plain sight.  That is, you blend into the crowd, into the environment, be just another person wandering around in the aisles of the store before you make your shoplift.  That’s how you get away with that sort of thing.  It […]

If you thought karaoke violence was bad in the United States, you’re not familiar with The Philippines.  Butchering someone’s favorite song might get you beaten up in America, but if you do that in Southeast Asia?  You’ll risk getting killed.
The Philippines is one of the world’s biggest hotbeds for karaoke, where the people pride themselves […]

It wasn’t exactly a classic Super Bowl, but it was the latest in a string of very good Super Bowls.  In the end, it was two surprise plays that won the game moreso than anything Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees did:  Peyton Manning’s win-sealing interception and an onside kick to start the second half.  Those […]

While we’ve not quite caught up with China’s 9-year-old mother, we’ve at least tied with Bulgaria’s 11-year-old mother for youngest recent child birth after an 11-year-old girl somewhere in the Northeastern United States gave birth to a healthy baby boy.  Even America has pregnant 11-year-old kids now, if only because we have to keep up […]

The United Kingdom has a drinking problem, and few places in the Isles are chugging down as much hooch as the Scottish.  The youth of Scotland are drinking so much that the Scottish Parliament is currently attempting to ban sales of a certain type of alcohol that’s taking the blame for a lot of social […]

Four years ago, he saved the dogs’ lives.  This year, they took his.  A 52-year-old doctor from Ljubljana, Romania, was found mauled to death by his own pet dogs in his backyard, which surprised no one save the man himself.  After all, at one point, his beloved bullmastiffs were going to be put down by […]