First Synthetic Tree Created
Transpiration is the the process that trees use to pull water up from the soil, up to their highest branches. This process is known by scientists but not entirely understood. Some argued that this process was only possible if with biological energy, while others felt that no energy was required. Abraham Stroock of Cornell has maybe answered this question. He’s created the first synthetic tree. Now, it may not look like a tree but it certainly functions like one. The point of this is not only to prove how transpiration works but also to study water under tension. “Water is the most studied substance on Earth, and yet there is a big metastable region in its phase diagram waiting to be characterized,” Stroock said. “It would be nice if you could, in a building, put these passive elements that carry heat around very effectively, for example, from a solar collector on the roof, to deliver heat all the way down through the building, then recycle that fluid back up to the roof the same way trees do it — pulling it back up,” Stroock said.
Do you think a lot of secrets of efficient energy can be found in nature?
To read more environment-related news, please visit http://www.causecast.org/environment
For the full story, please visit http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Sept08/stroock.trees.aj.html
Photo / Robert Barker Cornell University Photography
- Posted by CauseNews
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- 09.18.08
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- Go to original article
Related causes: Environment
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nature is key to scientific success. so may things have already been drawn from nature. survival of the fittest over thousands of years has found the best solution to so many problems. look at so many modern robots based on animal characteristics.