Category: SCI

Salvatore Cerchio went to Madagascar to study dolphins more than a decade ago. But on his arrival, he found schools of whales and his research focus quickly change. The waters of Madagascar are desert waters, making whale food very scarce, and the discovery of whales was by itself history making. But what was perhaps even more puzzling was that the whale species was the rare Bryde’s whale.

The whale has not been recorded anywhere outside captivity for a very long time. After this discovery, they focused entirely on the whale and attempted to unravel the mysteries of the Bryde’s whale in its natural habitat.

After nearly ten years the scientists have collected enough data to explain some of the aquatic mammals characteristics. The Bryde’s whale is not one of the big whales, but at 38 feet, it is still a massive creature. Suffice their enormous size the whales feed on shrimp found in the Madagascan coast. “What was exciting is that we got more information on their feeding than we ever had before,” said Salvatore Cerchio. “They spend their entire lives in the tropics. That is really unusual and unique because the tropics are difficult to make a living.”

They also observed that suffice the desert waters of the Madagascan coast; the whale spent its entire life there. This is a very rare whale characteristic as many whale species are migratory in nature. They also noted that mothers don’t move away from the colony once they give birth to their puppies instead they live close by. The whales were also singing, they were recorded as they hummed a rhythmic melody, with soloist leading the whole performance. This is their primary method of communication.

The solar cell is believed to be the next proficient power source for many small devices. But as devices get smaller and efficient, the need to have a source of energy with this same properties is a priority. MIT have created such a cell that would work for most small low-power devices. They have created the thinnest and lightest solar cell to date.

The head researcher in this project, Vladimir Bulovic, from MIT, said that they created this power source by combining all the critical steps to one. They formed the substrate of the cell and the protective overcoat in one process. He also said that the substrate is built in place and sides not need to move around. It also does not require any further maintenance such as washing or being taken off from the vacuum during fabrication.

“You can come up with the substrate as you grow the device, “said Vladimir Bulovic.” We are still in experimental stages, but we have noted considerable progress in making this solar cell a reality. We hope our research will lead to better power sources.”MIT are also using organic material in place of perylene, and a polymer called DBP to create both the overcoat and substrate.

Usually, perylene is used as an overcoat for biomedical devices to offer protecting to the apparatus. Using DBP for the cell has enabled the company to create the power source at room temperatures in a vacuum. It also does not need the use of harsh chemicals or elevated temperatures to merge the elements together. This makes the whole process economically viable and safer.