Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Blacks Holes made on Earth could Revolutionize the Solar Industry













No, CERN hasn't started slamming protons into each other at the Large Hadron Collider early. And no, a top secret warp drive hasn't been test-driven in Earth orbit (not that the gnome knows of anyway). In reality, an electromagnetic black hole has been fabricated in the laboratory for the first time.

Before you start getting concerned that the planet will soon be swallowed up by a rampaging singularity, the black hole in question isn't the gravitational behemoth you might find after a supernova or in the center of our Milky Way. This particular table-top black hole mimics the curvature of space-time, creating a fabricated event horizon that swallows electromagnetic radiation at microwave wavelengths.

According to previous theoretical studies, mimicking the curvature of space-time around an analog black hole should be possible, guiding electromagnetic radiation around a cylindrical structure "consisting of a central core surrounded by a shell of concentric rings.

I'm sure right about your saying to yourself WHAT the hell is the Gnome talking about! I know I had to read several articles on this just to wrap my head around it. I will try to put this in layman's terms at the end of this post and although the physics sounds complicated (and I think I'd have to see the apparatus up-close to fully appreciate what is going on), the result is astonishing. What's more, theory has just been turned into a working model by Tie Jun Cui and Qiang Cheng at the Southeast University in Nanjing, China. This is the world's first working black hole.

The best thing is that this experiment isn't just for curiosity-sake, it has a practical application that could revolutionize future solar panel design, making the production of solar energy a lot more efficient than it is currently.

Current solar work by taking Photons from the sun that knock electrons off a silica based panel. Those electrons are used to make electricity. The problem is that current panels are only able to capture 10-30% (varies form make and model) of the suns protons making them very inefficient. This is why they are not cost effective and why we don't see them on every home. This technology could make solar panels be able to absorb almost 100% of the suns protons. This of coarse would make them very cost effective and would revolutionize the way we get our energy.

Still confused the greatest powers we control here on earth all come from nature. A nuclear reaction is a natural thing in the universe. We have just learned how to control it and make it happen when we need it. Why should this be any different in nature what does a black hole do? It swallows everything in its path even light. If we learn how to make mini or table top black holes that mimic the curvature of space time that swallow all of the suns protons. Then our energy problems will be solved forever!

Green Gnome Out!

P.S. I promise I will back to everyday things we can do to be green in later post sometimes I just have to let the green geek inside me come out sometimes, lol.

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