Discover Top Posts Tagged with #floating leaves

a fleet of golden leaves adrift on a stream of blue & green ©Lunaladee

#lunaladee photos #floating leaves #gold & blue & green #hiking #original photography

Researchers in the UK rolled out a prototype last week of a paper-thin floating fuel cell.

Excerpt from this story from Earther/Gizmodo:

What if we could copy how plants create their own energy—and use it to power our world?

In a study published last week in Nature, researchers say they’ve created a prototype of a device with the potential to do just that. The team from the University of Cambridge described a floating solar “leaf,” which uses the power of the sun and the water to create fuel.

Slumberland's First Teaser Turns Jason Momoa Into the Cackling Satyr He Was Meant to Be

“Our artificial leaves work similarly to plant leaves,” Virgil Andrei, a research fellow at the University of Cambridge and one of the study’s coauthors, said in an email. “However, instead of sugars, we are producing useful chemicals.”

The leaves that Andrei and his colleagues have created aren’t solar panels, which create electricity using solar energy. Rather, this technology uses sunlight to produce a chemical reaction—in this case, to create the components needed for liquid fuel. The leaves copy the photosynthetic process of plants using two different kinds of fuel cells made from lead perovskite, a type of solar cell, to produce the building blocks for syngas.

Synthesis gas, or syngas, is a combination of hydrogen and carbon monoxide molecules, and it’s a crucial component of many industrial processes. Syngas can also be used as a form of fuel itself, and there’s hope that syngas could take the place of other, dirtier fuels in processes like aviation and car engines. But syngas is often made using fossil fuels like coal and natural gas, meaning that it is still a significant source of emissions. The promise of devices like the leaf prototype is that they could eliminate the problems that come with traditional fossil fuel-based syngas.

#floating leaves #solar energy #synthetic gas #syngas

Quick reviews: Old Tree Lapsang from Viatiempo & Winter Diva High Mountain Oolong from Floating Leaves

Left photo: Wuyi old tree Lapsang, dry leaves. A small bag of this came with my lizella clay gaiwan. It's different from the other lapsang I've tried recently. Robust and forgiving to brew, something about it's flavor reminds me of a red wine. The fragrance is leathery and hard to pin down. I'd associate this tea with winter, but it's a fitting drink to sip on while I catch up on Dracula Daily.

Right photo: Winter Diva High Mountain Oolong, after a session. This one is bright, floral, and buttery. The buttery note is present in the aroma as it steeps. Although they're two different styles of tea, it feels like the extroverted older sister to the Smooth Water Baozong Floating Leaves offers. Smooth Water is lighter and more reserved, where Winter Diva is bolder with a thicker texture. I was planning on ordering another ounce this month, but they're out of it after a sale.