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Interesting, apart from more efficient solar panels it could hand us a solution to better protect our skins with colored sunblock.

by Yaa101 4y ago

greenthrow 4y ago
Solar panels are already much, much more efficient than photosynthesis.
- _alxk 4y ago
  That doesn't preclude that further optimisation of solar panels could stem from research on photosynthesis.
  - akira2501 4y ago
    Perhaps.. but part of the reason plants "lack efficiency" compared to our solid state electronics is that they need respiration to exchange input and output products with the environment and the entire plant needs to be laid out in such a way that it can maintain a root structure while being advantaged with respect to competing vegetation. The two problem spaces are similar in that they use light, but exceptionally different in almost every other respect.
    - lazide 4y ago
      Also, sunburn is a real problem (aka excessive sun) without enough water or other nutrients for them.
delecti 4y ago
I'm not sure the same consideration applies to sunblock. The article makes the case that plants always "want" to let through the same quantity of light, but not necessarily the same proportion, while we ideally want to block 100% of UV all the time.
- dieselerator 4y ago
  I think this might be a good place to add this reminder: "Vitamin D is made when UV (more precisely, UVB rays) react with a compound (7-dehydrocholesterol) in the skin. The best rays for UV synthesis have wavelengths between 270–300 nm." [1] [1] https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/1313-vitamin-d-and-uv https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/1313-vitamin-d-and...
  - lightedman 4y ago
    270nm is UVC territory. Did you mean 280nm instead?
    - dieselerator 4y ago
      That is a fair question. This is what I find. [1] Ultraviolet B UV‑B 280–315 Ultraviolet C UV‑C 100–280 [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet My read is "UVB" is the popular medicine way of saying UV is needed for the body to synthesize vitamin D. It was not considered necessary to point out part of the useful spectrum is in "UVC" territory.
  - hinkley 4y ago
    Also kills microbes on surfaces.
OhNoNotAnother1 4y ago

Interesting, apart from more efficient solar panels it could hand us a solution to better protect our skins with colored sunblock.

by Yaa101 4y ago

Interesting, apart from more efficient solar panels it could hand us a solution to better protect our skins with colored sunblock.

greenthrow 4y ago

Solar panels are already much, much more efficient than photosynthesis.

_alxk 4y ago
That doesn't preclude that further optimisation of solar panels could stem from research on photosynthesis.
- akira2501 4y ago
  Perhaps.. but part of the reason plants "lack efficiency" compared to our solid state electronics is that they need respiration to exchange input and output products with the environment and the entire plant needs to be laid out in such a way that it can maintain a root structure while being advantaged with respect to competing vegetation. The two problem spaces are similar in that they use light, but exceptionally different in almost every other respect.
  - lazide 4y ago
    Also, sunburn is a real problem (aka excessive sun) without enough water or other nutrients for them.

delecti 4y ago

I'm not sure the same consideration applies to sunblock. The article makes the case that plants always "want" to let through the same quantity of light, but not necessarily the same proportion, while we ideally want to block 100% of UV all the time.

dieselerator 4y ago
I think this might be a good place to add this reminder: "Vitamin D is made when UV (more precisely, UVB rays) react with a compound (7-dehydrocholesterol) in the skin. The best rays for UV synthesis have wavelengths between 270–300 nm." [1] [1] https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/1313-vitamin-d-and-uv https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/1313-vitamin-d-and...
- lightedman 4y ago
  270nm is UVC territory. Did you mean 280nm instead?
  - dieselerator 4y ago
    That is a fair question. This is what I find. [1] Ultraviolet B UV‑B 280–315 Ultraviolet C UV‑C 100–280 [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet My read is "UVB" is the popular medicine way of saying UV is needed for the body to synthesize vitamin D. It was not considered necessary to point out part of the useful spectrum is in "UVC" territory.
- hinkley 4y ago
  Also kills microbes on surfaces.

OhNoNotAnother1 4y ago