Nanotechnology Now |
Home > News > Pressure exerted by sunbeams harnessed for energy: Green Futures: Innovative design draws on the pressure light exerts as a driving force
June 22nd, 2011
Abstract:
Now a team of researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York has demonstrated another trick light can do. Take a transparent rod, semicircular in cross-section and thinner than a human hair, and direct a beam at it. As the stream of photons flows through it, the pressure they exert first rotates it until it finds equilibrium and then pushes it, not in the direction of the stream but at a particular angle to it. It's not unlike the way the flow of air round an aerofoil creates 'lift'.
Tiny as this effect is, such a 'lightfoil' could have applications not only in the near-vacuum of space but even on Earth. "The advantage of these rods", explains Ortwin Hess, Professor in Physics and Leverhulme Chair in Metamaterials at Imperial College London, "is that you can use a lot of them together." And on the nano scale, he adds, even very small effects can have a gigantic impact.
So what is it good for? The pressure light exerts is minuscule, and so there are only two contexts in which it can be harnessed: in space, where there is a near-total vacuum and therefore almost no resistance to the force it applies; and in nanotechnology, where the things that need moving have a very small mass.
Source:
guardian.co.uk
Bookmark:
| Related News Press |
News and information
Bacterial spare parts filter antibiotic residue from groundwater May 22nd, 2013
UofL scientists uncover how grapefruits provide a secret weapon in medical drug delivery May 22nd, 2013
Molecular Machines
Conceptual Nanomedical Lipofuscin Removal Strategy April 29th, 2013
A giant step toward miniaturization: Nanotechnology transforms molecular beams into functional nano-devices with controlled atomic architectures April 3rd, 2013
ASU Biodesign Institute scientists develop innovative twists to DNA nanotechnology March 21st, 2013
Reversible assembly leads to tiny encrypted messages March 11th, 2013
Interviews/Book Reviews/Essays/Reports/Podcasts/Journals
Innovation could bring flexible solar cells, transistors, displays May 22nd, 2013
Researchers Stitch Defects into the World’s Thinnest Semiconductor May 22nd, 2013
UofL scientists uncover how grapefruits provide a secret weapon in medical drug delivery May 22nd, 2013
Energy
Innovation could bring flexible solar cells, transistors, displays May 22nd, 2013
Researchers Stitch Defects into the World’s Thinnest Semiconductor May 22nd, 2013
Iran to Hold 1st Conference on Applications of Nanotechnology in Energy Industry May 21st, 2013
Aerospace/Space
Moth-Inspired Nanostructures Take the Color Out of Thin Films May 17th, 2013
UC Santa Barbara History Professor's Book Elucidates, Celebrates ‘Visioneers' May 14th, 2013
Over 20 Exhibitors To Present At International Space Development Conference May 13th, 2013
Photonics/Optics/Lasers
Moth-Inspired Nanostructures Take the Color Out of Thin Films May 17th, 2013
HELIOS Program Develops Complete Supply Chain for Integrating Photonics with CMOS Circuit via IC Fabrication Processes May 14th, 2013
 |
||
 |
||
| The latest news from around the world, FREE | ||
 |
||
|
|
||
| Premium Products | ||
 |
||
|
Only the news you want to read!
Learn More |
||
 |
||
|
University Technology Transfer & Patents
Learn More |
||
 |
||
|
Full-service, expert consulting
Learn More |
||
|
|
||
abbigliamento uomo
Computer Accessories
| © Copyright 1999-2013 7th Wave, Inc. All Rights Reserved | PRIVACY POLICY :: CONTACT US :: STATS :: SITE MAP :: ADVERTISE |