Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Better Than Dune Chromoplastic? This Guy Might Have Done It
For those not fully in the know, the chromoplastic dew collector is one of my favorite bits of technovelgy from Frank Herbert's 1965 novel Dune:
Pretty clever idea. But a real-life (not fictional) materials scientist named Aaswath Raman at UCLA has done fiction one better with this nano photonic radiative cooler metamaterial (start around 6:50 for more background):
"how do you suppose it lives when we leave it? Each is planted most tenderly in its own little pit. The pits are filled with smooth ovals of chromoplastic. Light turns them white. You can see them glistening in the dawn if you look down from a high place. White reflects. But when Old Father Sun departs, the chromoplastic reverts to transparency in the dark. It cools with extreme rapidity. The surface condenses moisture out of the air. That moisture trickles down to keep our plants alive."
(Aaswath Raman nano photonic radiative cooler)
From fundamental thermodynamic considerations, in order to convert heat to usable work, it is important to have a heat source with a temperature that is as high as possible, and to have a heat sink with a temperature that is as low as possible. The vast majority of energy conversion processes at the moment use our ambient surroundings on Earth itself, with a temperature of approximately 300 K, as the heat sink. On the other hand, the universe, with a temperature of approximately 3 K, represents a much better heat sink. The ability to harness the coldness of the universe could therefore have broad implications for energy technologies in general, and represents an important emerging frontier in renewable energy research.The ability of photonic structures such as metamaterials to control the behavior of electromagnetic waves is essential to effectively harness the coldness of the universe. Earth's atmosphere is largely transparent to electromagnetic waves in the wavelength range of 8–13 μm. This wavelength range coincides with the spectral peak for black body radiation at 300 K. Thus, any object, when exposed to the sky, can radiate its heat out in a process known as radiative cooling (Fig. 1a) and passively reach sub-ambient temperatures.
This natural phenomenon has been implemented and studied at night for centuries. However, to improve the thermodynamic efficiency of energy technologies in general, and for cooling applications in particular, it would be far more useful to enable the same cooling effect during the day. The challenge here is that a sky-facing object faces the sun directly during daylight hours. For this purpose, then, one would need to create a structure that reflects the entire solar spectrum very well, while at the same time generating strong thermal radiation in the 8–13 μm wavelength range.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 8/9/2019)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Engineering ")
China's Drone Mothership Can Carry 100 Drones
'So the parent drone carries a spotter that it launches...'
Drones Recharge In Mid-Air Like Jets Refuel!
'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.' - Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Heat Waver - The First Ever Combo Solar Collector And Wind Turbine
'...like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.' - Simpson Stokes, 1937.
Tesla 'Fleet Response Agents' Bolster FSD Autonomy
'You hate the whole idea that some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre has got your life... in his hands.' - Charles Stross, 2007.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
LLM 'Cognitive Core' Now Evolving
'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
Has Elon Musk Given Up On Mars?
'There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.'
Bacteria Turns Plastic Into Pain Relief? That Gives Me An Idea.
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
When Your Child's Best Friend Is An AI
'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'
China's Drone Mothership Can Carry 100 Drones
'So the parent drone carries a spotter that it launches...'
Drones Recharge In Mid-Air Like Jets Refuel!
'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.'
Australian Authors Reject AI Training Of Llama
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
Is China Mining Helium-3 On The Moon's Farside?
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
Maybe It's Too Soon To Require Autonomous Mode
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
Is Agentic AI The Wrong Kind Of Smartness?
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
Heat Waver - The First Ever Combo Solar Collector And Wind Turbine
'...like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
Tesla 'Fleet Response Agents' Bolster FSD Autonomy
'You hate the whole idea that some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre has got your life... in his hands.'
Mori3 Autonomous Shapeshifting Robot
'My homeland is being threatened by the Replicators. Thus far all attempts to stop them have failed.'
Tesla Seeks 'Tesla Robotaxi' And 'Robobus' Trademarks Ignoring Prior Art
'A robobus had just rolled up to the curb.'
Scary Grid Safety Robots
'The ultimate horror for our paranoid culture...'
Does AI Provide A Way Forward For Talk Therapy
'And there in the next room by the sofa sat a familiar suitcase, that of his psychiatrist Dr. Smile.'
