Oriental Hornets Are Literally Solar Powered

[Fumesucker]

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/12/oriental-hornets-literally-solar-powered.php


While it's true that the vast web of life on this planet is essentially solar powered--without the sun's energy there is no life--new research shows that oriental hornets (Vespa orientalis) go one step beyond, employing special structures on their bodies to trap the sun's rays and turn it directly into energy. Really.

It's been known for a long time that oriental hornets are most active in the middle of the day and dig their nests underground when the sun is at its brightest intensity. Now scientists writing in the journal Naturwissenschaften have found out why.

As BBC News reports, the researchers examined the hornet's exoskeleton with an atomic force microscope and found that the yellow band around their abdomen is structured differently than the brown parts of their bodies.

This is made from a series of oval-shaped protrusions, each containing a pinhole-sized depression. Each protrusion is just 50nm tall and interlocks with another...Essentially, say the researchers, they stop light being reflected off the hornet's body. Instead the light is trapped, and harvested for energy.

The energy is harvested via the pigment xanthopterin, which creates the yellow color. This "works as a light harvesting molecule, transforming light into electrical energy."

[AlecBGreen]

1. SO COOL!

:bounce:

[mike_c]

2. here's a link to the full paper...

...although I don't know whether it will work generally. I can access it via my university office computer, but that MIGHT be due to cost sharing agreements between our library and Springer-Verlag, the publisher. At any rate, here's the link for anyone who wants to try:

http://www.springerlink.com/content/w657861740333733/fulltext.pdf

[Fumesucker]

3. Thanks, it worked for me..

This is a truly amazing discovery that has some profound implications, IMO..

[TlalocW]

4. You all, of course, recognize the danger

That if these wasps decide to stay above ground when the sun is at its brightest intensity, they will become supercharged much like Superman when exposed to too much yellow sun radiation, and they will be capable of taking over the world.

TlalocW

[trotsky]

5. I, for one, welcome our new hornet overlords.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[qazplm]

6. In a related note,

American hornets still reliant on gasoline and other fossil fuels to power flight.

Detroit is working on a hybrid hornet that uses less gas.

*insert picture of hornet strapped to a battery*

[YankeyMCC]

9. Wish I could recommend this n/t

[Heywood J]

7. It makes me wonder why the hornet hasn't adapted to become entirely yellow.

I'm wondering how efficient this conversion process is.

[Ready4Change]

8. Says the yellow parts generate electricity?

How does it use what's generated? I know creatures use some electricity in the nervous system, but this article sounds like they are using it for something more? Any one know?