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New York, 9:08 AM
Mon Nov 16
16 posts in the last 24 hours

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  • posts about #humanhair more →

    Forget Silicon, This Teenager's Solar Panel Uses Human Hair as a Conductor

    University Logo Tattoo on Human Hair: a Micro-Scale Rebellion?
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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of ripfire ripfire
    09/09/09

    In reply to Forget Silicon, This Teenager's Solar Panel Uses Human Hair as a Conductor
    Sorry blondes. Brunettes only.
     Reply
    ripfire was starred ripfire was unstarred
    Image of anon anon
    09/09/09

    In reply to Forget Silicon, This Teenager's Solar Panel Uses Human Hair as a Conductor
    I was waffling on whether or not this was a hoax, so I did some Googling. I found this article entitled "Semiconductor Properties of Natural Melanins".

    [www.researchgate.net]
     Reply
    ripfire promoted this comment anon was starred anon was unstarred
    Image of ripfire ripfire
    09/09/09

    @craighyatt: That title right there contradicts this article.

    How can melanin (a semiconductor) be a good conductor?
     Reply
    ripfire was starred ripfire was unstarred
    Image of anon anon
    09/09/09


    @ripfire: I assume you aren't pranking me. :) As I understand it, semiconductors make good solar cells because it's easy or photons of light to knock electrons loose. That being said, I tested some of my wife's jet-black hair and got nothing. Not conductive. No electrical potential when exposed to UV. Not a definitive experiment, of course.
     Reply
    anon was starred anon was unstarred
    Image of acuraboytl acuraboytl
    09/09/09

    In reply to Forget Silicon, This Teenager's Solar Panel Uses Human Hair as a Conductor
    Interesting to note, conductivity has only been attained in subjects with high concentrations of Eumelanin (Black and Brown), so this would only work with black or very dark brown colored hair. Sorry Matt, you'll have to buy hair by the kilo for this project...
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan promoted this comment acuraboytl was starred acuraboytl was unstarred
    Image of anon anon
    09/09/09

    @acuraboytl: My wife's hair is jet black, but does not conduct at all. I tested it. She must be used to me. She didn't even blink when I said, "Honey, I need to cut off a chunk of your hair to check conductivity and semiconductor properties." :)
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan promoted this comment anon was starred anon was unstarred
    Image of Rosa Golijan Rosa Golijan
    09/09/09

    @craighyatt: Now that's love. :)
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan was starred Rosa Golijan was unstarred
    Image of CaesarDia CaesarDia
    09/09/09

    In reply to Forget Silicon, This Teenager's Solar Panel Uses Human Hair as a Conductor
    I am horrified that Gizmodo has published this article verbatim, without even questioning the basic science behind this "invention". If hair were a good conductor then you couldn't staticly charge a baloon with it!

    Also, melanin is really bad at charge separation, a basic requirement for solar cells. It evolved to efficiently turn UV radiation into heat to protect us from the sun. If it produced charge it would to more harm than good!

    My PhD is in this field so I think I am qualified to say that this is really suspect. This needs much more rigorous reporting before people should be gushing about this kid being the next "Edison".
     Reply
    DrewTweetsToo promoted this comment Odin approved this comment CaesarDia was starred CaesarDia was unstarred
    Image of MePerson MePerson
    09/09/09

    @CaesarDia: The oil in your hair stops any charge from dissapating. Also, it's a semiconductor.

    But hey, you have the PhD, so I'm probably wrong. :)
     Reply
    MePerson was starred MePerson was unstarred
    Image of theimmc theimmc
    09/09/09

    In reply to Forget Silicon, This Teenager's Solar Panel Uses Human Hair as a Conductor
    Erm.. Solar Green is People?
     Reply
    deanbmmv promoted this comment theimmc was starred theimmc was unstarred
    Image of MaQ MaQ
    09/09/09

    @theimmc:
    It's MATRIX I tell you !!
     Reply
    MaQ was starred MaQ was unstarred
    Image of anon anon
    09/09/09

    In reply to Forget Silicon, This Teenager's Solar Panel Uses Human Hair as a Conductor
    Wow! Next thing you know, they'll be generating heat from regular old wood.
     Reply
    DrewTweetsToo promoted this comment anon was starred anon was unstarred
    Image of Shamoononon: I shave my legs. Shamoononon: I shave my legs.
    09/09/09

    In reply to Forget Silicon, This Teenager's Solar Panel Uses Human Hair as a Conductor




    Hw Sn Frncsc wll srvv th pcl
     Reply
    dolo54 blows minds and blows engines! promoted this comment Edited at 09/09/09 7:26 PM Shamoononon: I shave my legs. was starred Shamoononon: I shave my legs. was unstarred
    Image of Rosa Golijan Rosa Golijan
    09/09/09

    @Shamoononon Beer Lover: There went my breakfast.

    I'm not trying to diet, so let's keep pics like that out of the comments for now. Deal?
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan was starred Rosa Golijan was unstarred
    Image of dolo54 blows minds and blows engines! dolo54 blows minds and blows engines!
    09/09/09

    @Shamoononon Beer Lover: that's inappropriate and possibly bannable. But I laughed anyhow...
     Reply
    dolo54 blows minds and blows engines! was starred dolo54 blows minds and blows engines! was unstarred
    Image of maztec maztec
    09/09/09

    In reply to Forget Silicon, This Teenager's Solar Panel Uses Human Hair as a Conductor
    What is the efficiency? Four times cheaper, but just how much energy is put out by it?
     Reply
    deanbmmv promoted this comment maztec was starred maztec was unstarred
    Image of deanbmmv deanbmmv
    09/09/09

    @maztec: Who cares. Its hair, its cheap, as long as it'll power something its good.
     Reply
    deanbmmv was starred deanbmmv was unstarred
    Image of redangel7 redangel7
    09/09/09

    @deanbmmv: But it won't be funny if it requires 100 square feet panel to charge an iPod
     Reply
    deanbmmv promoted this comment redangel7 was starred redangel7 was unstarred
    Image of deanbmmv deanbmmv
    09/09/09

    @redangel7: And why would people who can't afford batteries be wanting iPods?
     Reply
    deanbmmv was starred deanbmmv was unstarred
    Image of appletoad appletoad
    09/08/09

    In reply to Forget Silicon, This Teenager's Solar Panel Uses Human Hair as a Conductor
    I just realised that this kid is recycling Edison's discovery that led him to use hair in his first working light bulb.
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan promoted this comment appletoad was starred appletoad was unstarred
    Image of Mason Ice Mason Ice
    09/08/09

    In reply to Forget Silicon, This Teenager's Solar Panel Uses Human Hair as a Conductor
    We will all be bald but we will have cheap energy. I guess that is why so many people in futuristic movies have no hair.
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_NowW/PantsOfMeat promoted this comment Mason Ice was starred Mason Ice was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked
    09/09/09

    @Mason Ice: They aren't bald, it's a solar panel for a sex machine.
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked was starred GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked was unstarred
    Image of Weihovah Weihovah
    09/08/09

    In reply to Forget Silicon, This Teenager's Solar Panel Uses Human Hair as a Conductor
    hair is not a renewable resource for everyone
     Reply
    spannu promoted this comment Weihovah was starred Weihovah was unstarred
    Image of spannu spannu
    09/08/09

    @Weihovah: Just because you don't have any drapes doesn't mean we can't use the curtains.

    ...I'm talking about armpits, of course.
     Reply
    spannu was starred spannu was unstarred
    Image of InvaderPhlegm InvaderPhlegm
    09/09/09

    @spannu: You guys have to think outside the box a little more. He's got it working with human hair, but there is nothing to state that the same process cannot be made to work with animal hair.

    Not all animals produce fur. Some animals, like poodles for example, don't grow fur, but grow hair instead. Harvesting enough hair to make it worthwhile, would be similar to harvesting wool; an industry that literally cloths hundreds of millions of people for thousands of years.

    You make a list of which animals grow hair, figure out which animals on the list are the best for farming, and then you farm them and harvest their hair periodically. And since like sheered sheep, they will simply grow more back . . . well, you get the picture.

    And like with sheep, you can even breed whatever animal you chose, to produce offspring which grow more hair per season than the parents did. There is no reason why in a couple of decades, the entire hair for solar power thing, could not be a multi-billion dollar, global industry.

    And best part, many of the same countries that desperately need a cheap, renewable energy source to power their nations, are also primarily agrarian - they can grow their own energy/hair industry, and not get caught up in owing trillions of dollars to the major Western powers in the process.

    To think, the results of this simple experiment by a Nepalese teenager in the right hands, could very well completely change the face of the world over the next century, and may actually go down as one of the most important discoveries of the 21st Century.

    It's weird when you think about it in those terms, but if anyone could manage to provide adequate Green energy for the entire developing world by any other means, we'd be calling it just that, as they would effectively have created one of the most important discoveries in modern history.

    Cheap, affordable solar power through hair? Who'da thunkit?
     Reply
    InvaderPhlegm was starred InvaderPhlegm was unstarred
    Image of appletoad appletoad
    09/08/09

    In reply to Forget Silicon, This Teenager's Solar Panel Uses Human Hair as a Conductor
    Rosa, maybe you can use this tech to charge your laptop battery, you might be able to completely avoid plugging into the mains! [I mean this in the nice way, obviously]
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan promoted this comment appletoad was starred appletoad was unstarred
    Image of Rosa Golijan Rosa Golijan
    09/08/09

    @appletoad: Are you trying to say that I have a lot of hair?
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan was starred Rosa Golijan was unstarred
    Image of Walljasper Walljasper
    09/08/09

    In reply to Forget Silicon, This Teenager's Solar Panel Uses Human Hair as a Conductor
    The next time I get my belly/back wax or have other manscaping performed around gooch gulch, I shall put aside the hairs for this worthy cause. Pounds.
     Reply
    InsidiousTuna promoted this comment Walljasper was starred Walljasper was unstarred
    Image of InsidiousTuna InsidiousTuna
    09/08/09

    @Walljasper: Gooch Gulch sounds like a FernGully-themed porn.
     Reply
    InsidiousTuna was starred InsidiousTuna was unstarred
    Image of Walljasper Walljasper
    09/09/09

    @InsidiousTuna: lol. The road-less-traveled between Marble Bag and Balloon Knot.
     Reply
    Walljasper was starred Walljasper was unstarred
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