1 SOLAR GOOD VIBRATIONS
Silicon-based solar cells are relatively efficient, but expensive to produce, whereas zinc oxide-based cells are cheap but inefficient. Researchers at Queen Mary University in London and Imperial College London tried playing music to zinc oxide cells, knowing that nanoscale rods of the oxide will wobble in response to mechanical stress, such as sound, producing an electric field. This increased the efficiency of these cells by 50 per cent, showing they would be more effective in noisy places.
2 507 YEARS OLD
The world’s oldest creature,
