Fractal Enlightenment - 13-Year Old Replicates Fibonacci Sequence to Harness Solar Power

[Coyotl]

13-Year Old Replicates Fibonacci Sequence to Harness Solar Power
http://fractalenlightenment.com/14422/fractals/13-year-old-replicates-fibonacci-sequence-to-harness-solar-power

The future of our planet lies in the hands of our children and when a 13-year old boy, Aidan Dwyer, uncovers the mystery of how trees get enough of sunlight in a crowded forest and applies it to solar energy you know that all is not lost.

On a trek through the forest Aidan, from Long Island, New York, pondered on how all the leaves get enough of sunlight and figured out that trees spiral up using the Fibonacci sequence.

The fractal nature of trees allows each leaf to get sunlight and he pondered on why we don’t use the Fibonacci sequence in the placement of solar panels for us to harness energy from the sun.

So he came up with his little invention to generate the maximum amount of energy using the fractal principals of nature. Aidan explained, “My design is like a tree, but instead of having leaves it has solar panels at the ends (of the branches).”

Check out the video below -

[Berlum]

1. Excellent

[Godhumor]

2. This is from 2011 and unfortunately the conclusions were incorrect

Good work by the young thinker, for sure, but it turned out his way of thinking led to a sub-optimal array and the math behind the theory was flawed. Neat work but the media blew this story way out of proportion.

[randome]

3. Spoilsport.

Oh, well, knowledge is king. Even the knowledge that some knowledge is not king.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]"If you're bored then you're boring." -Harvey Danger[/center][/font][hr]

[Godhumor]

4. It is weird, I just googled the story

And a while bunch of blogs seem to have just picked it up again. I have no idea what triggered the new interest online.

[Schema Thing]

11. a good bet is that one blog, or one person, for whatever reason

resurrected the story to share with his or her readership. And that's all it takes.

[Coyotl]

17. Facebook!

[lumberjack_jeff]

6. +1 n/t

[SidDithers]

5. You damn scientific materialist, with your facts and your accurate reporting...

Sid

[Orrex]

8. The claque is everywhere.

[MattBaggins]

20. claque on, claque off.. the claquer

[Silent3]

15. You hater of uplifting stories, you!

Why won't you just believe!?

[dougg]

10. It may be incorrect but

it certainly is a start toward finding what is correct.

[Godhumor]

13. It is interesting work but not applicable

Solar array design is based primarily on mathematical principles, so we have calculated what should be the most efficient setup to collect sunlight. The basis of the kid's work is the Fibonacci system, which pertains to continued growth. For non-reproducing systems it is not a concept that works.

It is always possible someone manages to find something better, but the math on a static, non-replicating system is pretty clear.

[MattBaggins]

21. No doubt an excellent idea for someone that age to have come up with

Hopefully this kid will pursue math and science.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. Excellent innovation, but we need a cost analysis

I wonder if the cost of many PV leaves and branches will exceed the power gains compared to the power and cost reduction of producing PV cells massed in rectangular arrays.

[Jimbo101]

9. Old Story Debunked

This story is a couple of years old & has been debunked.

http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/blog-debunks-13-year-olds-solar-power-breakthrough.html

[7962]

12. Somewhere, Sheldon Cooper lives, and he's working on SOMETHING cool! nt

[BlancheSplanchnik]

14. so cool....

I am also trying to restrain my inner grammar nazi


This is amazing and exciting!

[icarusxat]

16. when important thinking enters the room regarding alternative energy

it is usually followed by some republican think tank feeding stories about how it will never work, especially if it takes big energy out of the equation...

[Godhumor]

18. There was no thinktank debunking this... just old fashioned math and science

Everyone involved gave full credit to the student for an innovative idea that just happened to not work. In this case the media is way more to blame for its coverage of his work.

[icarusxat]

24. and I rest my case

[Liberal_in_LA]

22. kick

[dickthegrouch]

23. Please, someone teach him how to use a drill press

He risks losing his arm if he continues to use that drill press so dangerously.

Keep up the great work in other ways.