Follow the link below to watch episodes 1-3 of Mars, and if you haven't already, follow it for future episodes every week.
CLICK HERE

Team combines quantum physics and photosynthesis to make discovery that could lead to highly efficient solar cells

Physicists at UC Riverside, addressed the problem by designing a new type of quantum heat engine photocell, which helps manipulate the flow of energy in solar cells. The design incorporates a heat engine photocell that absorbs photons from the sun and converts the photon energy into electricity.

Surprisingly, the researchers found that the quantum heat engine photocell could regulate solar power conversion without requiring active feedback or adaptive control mechanisms. In conventional photovoltaic technology, which is used on rooftops and solar farms today, fluctuations in solar power must be suppressed by voltage converters and feedback controllers, which dramatically reduce the overall efficiency.

The basic operating principle is that one channel absorbs at a wavelength for which the average input power is high, while the other absorbs at low power. The photocell switches between high and low power to convert varying levels of solar power into a steady-state output.

REX for @Fizikx & @Everythingscience

Soon, We May Be Able to Access Our Memories From Early Childhood
Scientists are looking for ways to tap into memories from early childhood that have previously been thought to be lost forever.

The research could potentially lead to methods of blocking traumatic memories that have a negative impact on adults.
────────────────
Article
@EverythingScience

Lookin' Good, Mars! ExoMars' First High-Res Photos Are Incredible
Behold! The European Space Agency's new Mars orbiter just sent back its first high-resolution images of the Red Planet, and the view is amazing.

The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) arrived at Mars on Oct. 19, when its companion spacecraft Schiaparelli crash-landed on the planet's surface. Since then, TGO has been circling Mars, testing out its machinery, and taking spectacularly sharp pictures of the landscape using its Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS). ESA stitched together the best of these photos in a cool new flyover video.
────────────────
Article
@EverythingScience

One simple algorithm could explain human intelligence
This is big
A simple algorithm could explain the inner workings of human intelligence, and it could one day be encoded into artificial intelligence (AI) systems, researchers suggest.

It's a mind-bending idea: that all the complex thoughts running through our heads are the product of a set of definable sums. But scientists have identified clear patterns in the brains of mice and hamsters, and if a similar phenomenon could be found in human brains, it could form the basis of such an algorithm for intelligence.
────────────────
Article
@EverythingScience

What are the odds of you existing
@EverythingScience

A first-of-its-kind HIV vaccine will move to phase II trials in 2017
A brand new type of HIV vaccine will move onto phase II clinical trials in 2017, after phase I trials showed that it was safe to use in humans.

The potential new vaccine will be tested on 600 people in North America, to see how well it can prevent them from getting the virus.
────────────────
Article
@EverythingScience

Cosmic test confirms quantum weirdness
COSMIC BELL Scientists used light from stars, including HIP 2876 (shown), to perform a cosmic Bell test, verifying the weird nature of quantum mechanics. The scientists used variations in the color of the light emitted from the star to randomly select measurement settings in the experiment.
The spookiness of quantum mechanics has gone cosmic.
────────────────
Article
@EverythingScience

Episode 4 - Power

Rest of episodes + future episodes: https://telegram.me/joinchat/BVSfuz_FmdqEhL92Ll_sNw
@EverythingScience

Feeling inspired? Have an idea to discuss? Or just want to ask a science question? Join our chat!
@EverythingScienceChat

This propulsion expert says there's a good chance NASA's EM Drive results are flawed
It’s one of the most intriguing stories of the year: NASA’s version of the 'impossible' EM Drive appears to produce thrust, violating Newton’s third law and hence our current understanding of the physics that govern the Universe.

But just because NASA’s space drive test passed peer-review last month, doesn’t mean it actually works, says Brice Cassenti, an expert in advanced propulsion systems at the University of Connecticut. In fact, due to the array of errors that could have affected the experiment, he says the only way we can actually know the truth is to test the EM Drive in space.

Article
@EverythingScience

Caesarean births could be having an effect on human evolution
Caesarean section (or C-section) deliveries can save lives when babies are too large to be born naturally - or if there are other health complications - but they also appear to be affecting how humans are evolving, scientists report.

Article
@EverythingScience

Giraffes are heading towards a "silent extinction", as populations plummet
The tallest animal in the world has been brought tragically low, with new research revealing that the global giraffe population has plummeted by up to 40 percent over the last 30 years.

Article
@EverythingScience

TIL Ore trains in Sweden traveling down to the coast generate five times the amount of electricity they use, powering nearby towns and the return trip for other trains.
Wikipedia

http://redd.it/5hdczs
@EverythingScience

'Star in a Jar' Fusion Reactor Works and Promises Infinite Energy
For several decades now, scientists from around the world have been pursuing a ridiculously ambitious goal: They hope to develop a nuclear fusion reactor that would generate energy in the same manner as the sun and other stars, but down here on Earth.

Incorporated into terrestrial power plants, this "star in a jar" technology would essentially provide Earth with limitless clean energy, forever. And according to new reports out of Europe this week, we just took another big step toward making it happen.

Article
@EverythingScience