Hey out there to the Blog World.
Sorry I’ve been slacking on the postings that I have previously been doing everyday- but with school starting up back this semester (my last semester)- free time is getting more hard to come by. That doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten about you though!
Here is a fun story on how jellyfish are helping out with solar energy production. Piles of green goo made up of living cells – originating from jellyfish to algae – are now being recruited to produce (cheaper!) solar power.
Researchers in Sweden are creating a photovoltaic device based on green fluorescent protein (for short: GFP) from the jellyfish species Aequorea victoria– also known as the Water Jellyfish.
The researchers deposit 2 aluminum electrodes with a very small space in-between them into a substrate of silicon dioxide. Then the doplet of green fluorescent protein is added on top, which then the protein assembles itself into strands between the electrode gap.
A UV light is exposed onto the GFP- it then absorbs the photons and emits electrons, which travel around a circuit to produce- you guessed it- ELECTRICITY! Amazing right?
Photography + Science = Chanel 