Issue 8 December 2010 ECO BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Solar-Powered Hornets?


A report from the journal Naturwissenschaften explains that Oriental hornets (Vespa orientalis), have special capacities which allows them to source and harness the energy from the sun. The research team, led by Dr Marian Plotkin of Tel-Aviv University, found that Oriental hornets have an internal structure that acts like a solar– operating system complete with a pigment that allows the hornets to harvest the sun’s energy.


Using an atomic force microscope (a very high- resolution type of scanning probe microscope), the team examined the hornet’s cuticle reveal that there were different structures happening inside the exo-skeleton. The brown areas were made from grooves whereas the structure of the yellow areas were oval shaped interlocking


protrusions that contained pin hole shaped like depressions.


According to the researchers these are employed for different ways of reflecting, capturing and trapping the sun.


The brown part of the body helps shatter the sunlight into beams, sending them travelling into different directions. The cuticle’s intricate structure contains a series of sheets and rod like structures to trap light. Some of these cells (in the stripes on the abdomen and head) contain a yellow pigment known as xanthopterin, which holds a molecule that harvests the light and transforms it into electrical energy.


Talk about creating your own Buzz! Sources


The Solar Hornet Naturwissenshaften


http://www.springerlink.com/content/100479/


Enviro News http://www.enviro-news.com/news/oriental- hornet-solar-cell-research.html


Environmental Graffitti http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/animals/ news-amazing-oriental-hornet-living-solar-cell


Environmental Graffitti http://www.ecofriend.org/entry/solar-energy- harvesting-oriental-hornet-inspires-scientists/


Attenbourough and Augmented Reality


Quotation given by Dr Honor Gay, head of Learning at the Natural History Museum to, Quantum Health Magazine 14th Dec 2101


www.quantumhealthmagazine.com


(Picture copyright of the Natural_History_ Museum.)


http://www.nhm.ac.uk/


NASA Research Finds Arsenic- Thriving-Bacteria in Mono Lake


NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/ features/astrobiology_toxic_chemical.html NASA: http://astrobiology.nasa.gov Mono Lake: http://www.monolake.org/


Image: Mono Lake webcam: http://www.monolake.org/today/mlcam


Wired.com Nasa finds arsenic life form: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/12/ nasa-finds-arsenic-life-form/


Tom’s Guide http://www.tomsguide.com/us/NASA-DNA- Arsenic-Life-form-Mono-Lake,news-9190.html


Quantum Health 17


Quantum


HEALTH


Science in the News


by Heather McGee-Parkin


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