Mars technology creates self-dusting solar panels
Self-cleaning technology developed for lunar and Mars missions could be used to keep terrestrial solar panels dust free
Dust deposits can reduce the efficiency of electricity generating solar panels by as much as 80%.
The self cleaning technology can repel dust when sensors detect concentrations on the panel’s surface have reached a critical level.
In some of the dry desert areas that currently have large solar arms such as the Mojave solar panels can collect as much as 17kg per square km. Which can translate to a decrease in solar collection efficiency by as much as 80%. The self-cleaning technology detects when dust coverage reaches a critical level. Each panel – covered with an electrically sensitive material – is than charged. This sends a dust repellent wave of electricity across the panel. Researchers hope the technology will be available on a commercial production level within a year.
UCO Forensic Science Institute honored for energy-saving design
For the Forensic Science Institute building, the U.S. Green Building Council cited areas such as construction waste management, recycled content, use of regional and low-emitting building materials and water-use reduction in the certification.
About 94 percent of on-site construction waste was diverted from a landfill, more than 13 percent of the building materials were manufactured using recycled materials and the construction reduced water use 36 percent.
More than 22 percent of the building materials used were extracted, harvested, recovered or manufactured within 500 miles of the project.
Besides knowing a little more about green building technology we now know where the real CSI investigators come from.
Eating berries may activate the brain’s natural housekeeper for healthy aging
Scientists today reported the first evidence that eating blueberries, strawberries, and acai berries may help the aging brain stay healthy in a crucial but previously unrecognized way. Their study, presented at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), concluded that berries, and possibly walnuts, activate the brain’s natural “housekeeper” mechanism, which cleans up and recycles toxic proteins linked to age-related memory loss and other mental decline.
The brain naturally has some cleaner/helper cells called microglia. In a process known as autophagy they remove and recycle cell debris which might be harmful if left around. The microglia tend to become less effective as the body ages. Sometimes being under active and sometimes over active. Polyphenolics in berries other fruits and vegetables have a rejuvenating effect, restoring much of the microglia’s normal functioning.
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