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Posted Wed Apr 27 2011: from Massachusetts Institute of Technology via ScienceDaily: Solar Power Goes Viral: Researchers Use Virus to Improve Solar-Cell Efficiency http://apocadocs.com/s.pl?1303864316 Researchers at MIT have found a way to make significant improvements to the power-conversion efficiency of solar cells by enlisting the services of tiny viruses to perform detailed assembly work at the microscopic level...that's where viruses come to the rescue. Graduate students Xiangnan Dang and Hyunjung Yi -- working with Angela Belcher, the W. M. Keck Professor of Energy, and several other researchers -- found that a genetically engineered version of a virus called M13, which normally infects bacteria, can be used to control the arrangement of the nanotubes on a surface, keeping the tubes separate so they can't short out the circuits, and keeping the tubes apart so they don't clump. [Read more stories about: efficiency increase, carbon emissions, nanotechnology] New!: No reader quips yet -- be the first! Got a PaniQuip? Your Quip (limit 140 characters, no links, just wit): First name: The text shown in the Web image to the right: We reserve the right to reuse, remove, or refuse any entry.

'Doc Michael says: What could go wrong? NEXT> More stories: Congress puts limits on lead in cross hairs Siberia's boreal forests 'will not survive climate change' (Solar Power Goes Viral: Researchers Use Virus to Improve Solar-Cell Efficiency) Playing politics with climate change Forest fires around Chernobyl could release radiation, scientists warn Want to explore more? Try the PaniCloud!

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