under the microscope

Light can make water evaporate without heat.

“Chen says that in principle, he thinks it may be possible to increase the limit of water produced by solar desalination, which is currently 1.5 kilograms per square meter, by as much as three- or fourfold using this light-based approach.” ~ learn […]

big ideas

Electricity-free cooling by beaming heat into space.

A team from Stanford has made progress on a system they call radiative sky cooling. Originally created in 2013, their latest real-world test … “found that throughout the summer the panels cut the power needed to cool the building by more […]