Artificial leaf can turn water into hydrogen energy and oxygen, with only sunlight

[Kendra]

[QUOTE=StackOfPoo;35901369]Liquid nitrogen isn't rocket fuel. It's inert.
Oxygen is used in rockets but isn't exactly fuel either. It's oxidizer.

:eng101:[/QUOTE]

Damnit, I mean hydrogen.

[BrickInTheHead]

[QUOTE=Kondor58;35899451]and now watch, as if by magic, that we never hear of this in use ever again[/QUOTE]

we really shouldn't in the first place. water is already scarce enough, and if it's utilized as a primary source of energy in any commercial or domestic capacity water prices will skyrocket which will fuck over huge portions of every single state in existence. we've already got alarmingly low levels of potable water; it's expected that wars will be fought over water in our lifetime, and I don't doubt it. Energy needs to come from other sources.

[alien_guy]

[QUOTE=mobrockers2;35902291]Technically science and scientists came to exist at the same time, because as soon as someone did anything scientifically he/she would've been a scientist, and before someone was a scientist there was no science.[/QUOTE]

The word "Science" existed about 500 years before the word "scientist"

[Van-man]

[QUOTE=alien_guy;35904576]The word "Science" existed about 500 years before the word "scientist"[/QUOTE]

The profession itself could easily have existed without a label-name which to call it.

[Missing User]

this is not new, if you have a current running through two diodes that are in water it will create hydrogen and oxygen by blasting the atoms apart. It just looks like a leaf and does the exact same thing, i would assume.

[ewitwins]

[QUOTE=krazipanda;35904939]this is not new, if you have a current running through two diodes that are in water it will create hydrogen and oxygen by blasting the atoms apart. It just looks like a leaf and does the exact same thing, i would assume.[/QUOTE]

With the possibility of using no artificial energy, yes.

[An Armed Bear]

I swear something like this was posted awhile back...

Edit: [url]http://www.facepunch.com/threads/1074250[/url]

[Gmod4ever]

[QUOTE=ewitwins;35904981]With the possibility of using no artificial energy, yes.[/QUOTE]

As far as I can tell, this basically just combines hydrolysis - the process of using energy to split hydrogen and oxygen apart - with photolysis - the process of converting and storing energy from sunlight.

Basically it's a hydrolysis device that powers itself with solar cells, rather than another source of electricity.

I think the [b]real[/b] interesting point here is the fact they were able to make this device using cheaper materials than what we have been using previously.