New solar technology on the way

[NoTies]

Solar power breakthrough at Massey - New Zealand, world, sport, business & entertainment news on Stuff.co.nz
Make you whole boat a solar panel!!!

[TaoJones]

. . . I applaud the efforts at Massey University, and I hope they lead to something viable, but I'm a bit skeptical that their "breakthrough" is original. I've been hearing similar claims for some time, and for reference I attach the following:

Self-Assembling Organic Thin Films And Solar Power

You will note the date of the above is 28 August, 2001.

TaoJones

[NoTies]

They do acknowledge the work being done elsewhere but the emphasis is on the porphurin dye that they have developed which is a long way ahead of anything else apparently. This in effect makes it a viable proposition for cheap, mass production as well as efficient conversion.
Kiwis talking themselves up yet again but remember, it was a Kiwi who first split the atom, first climbed Everest, first to give women the vote.......

[TaoJones]

. . . but, though Ernest Rutherford was an esteemed scientist, he was not the first to "split the atom" in 1942 That honor correctly goes to Otto Hahn and his associates, particularly Fritz Strassman, for their pioneering work at their laboratory in Berlin. They accomplished the feat in December, 1938. And they were, in fact, standing on the shoulders of Italian Enrico Fermi and his research associates, who had begun their research along this line in 1934.

I offer, for reference, the following:

Re: How was the atom first split in 1942?

and the following:

Otto Hahn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

TaoJones

[dana-tenacity]

At Manchester, Rutherford continued his research on the properties of the radium emanation and of the alpha rays and, in conjunction with H. Geiger, a method of detecting a single alpha particle and counting the number emitted from radium was devised. In 1910, his investigations into the scattering of alpha rays and the nature of the inner structure of the atom which caused such scattering led to the postulation of his concept of the "nucleus", his greatest contribution to physics. According to him practically the whole mass of the atom and at the same time all positive charge of the atom is concentrated in a minute space at the centre. In 1912 Niels Bohr joined him at Manchester and he adapted Rutherford's nuclear structure to Max Planck's quantum theory and so obtained a theory of atomic structure which, with later improvements, mainly as a result of Heisenberg's concepts, remains valid to this day. In 1913, together with H. G. Moseley, he used cathode rays to bombard atoms of various elements and showed that the inner structures correspond with a group of lines which characterize the elements. Each element could then be assigned an atomic number and, more important, the properties of each element could be defined by this number. In 1919, during his last year at Manchester, he discovered that the nuclei of certain light elements, such as nitrogen, could be "disintegrated" by the impact of energetic alpha particles coming from some radioactive source, and that during this process fast protons were emitted. Blackett later proved, with the cloud chamber, that the nitrogen in this process was actually transformed into an oxygen isotope, so that Rutherford was the first to deliberately transmute one element into another. G. de Hevesy was also one of Rutherford's collaborators at Manchester.


I copied this from Nobelprize.org

1919 precedes 1938

[TaoJones]

. . . then it isn't surprising that controversy surrounds major accomplishments.

For example, Sir John Douglas Cockcroft could be credited with being first to "split the atom," in 1932. From his bio on wikipedia, I quote the following:

"In 1928 he began to work on the acceleration of protons with Ernest Walton. In 1932 they bombarded lithium with high energy protons, and succeeded in transmuting it into helium and other chemical elements. This was the first occasion on which an atomic nucleus of one element had been successfully changed to a different nucleus by artificial means. This feat was popularly — if somewhat inaccurately — known as splitting the atom."

But if one is speaking of nuclear fission, then I offer the following from the source you cite, nobelprize.org, in re 1944 Nobel Prize winner Otto Hahn:

"His most spectacular discovery came at the end of 1938. While working jointly with Dr. Strassmann, Hahn discovered the fission of uranium and thorium in medium heavy atomic nuclei and his first work on these subjects appeared on 6th January and 10th February, 1939, in Naturwissenschaften. Since that time and until 1944 Hahn continued investigation on the proof and separation of many elements and kinds of atoms which arise through fission."

TaoJones

[blahman]

Interesting article. I'm certainly going to keep tabs!

Aaron N.

[TaoJones]

. . . is often better than the original "fact." For example, let's explore further the self-aggrandizing points in an earlier post:

Originally Posted by pwederell

Kiwis talking themselves up yet again but remember, it was a Kiwi who first split the atom, first climbed Everest, first to give women the vote.......

In addition to the information on who may have first split the atom presented earlier, I offer the following regarding the other two "facts:"

While Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary were the first to ascend Everest (actually Devgiri in ancient Sanskrit) and live to tell the tale, it is at least possible, and at best very likely that British climbers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine were the first to stand at the summit of the mountain on June 8, 1924. Their big mistake . . . they died on the descent. And in mountain climbing, only successful ascents that end with equally successful descents are credited to the climbers.

Then there is the intriguing question of whether Tenzing or Hillary was the actual first person to bag the summit, as just what constitutes the actual peak is very hard to ascertain. Hillary received the accolades when Tenzing graciously gave him the honor, though it's possible that either one, or neither one, actually stood on the highest segment of rock at the summit, inasmuch as blowing, drifting snow and ice obscured most everything up there.

As to the claim that New Zealand was the first to grant women the right to vote, well, here too the story gets murkier the more one digs out the facts. In 1893, New Zealand did introduce universal suffrage, however, Pitcairn Island (1838), Isle of Man (1866), and Wyoming Territory (1869) all have legitimate, prior claims to the honor for having granted women equal voting rights to men in the years given.

None of the above is meant to denigrate the many valid reasons to hold New Zealand in high regard. Rather, my purpose is merely to point out that there is almost always a lot more that is left out than is put in to the typical elementary school text.

TaoJones

[GordMay]

While Hillary and Tenzing generally get credit for the first successful ascent of Everest in 1953, little attention is given to the "Life Magazine” photographer who documented the assault from above.
Those photographers were amazing!

[TaoJones]

. . . A very cogent observation.

TaoJones

[mike d.]

ANYWAY THIS WILL DEFINATELY BE A SUBJECT TO KEEP TABS ON.

[jim lee]

Well.. I've heard that the Kiwis were pretty much responsible for developing the marine jet pump & the original ULDB sailboats.

-jim

[NoTies]

But if you look hard enough at wikipedia you will discover they were originally developed in Southern California

[NoTies]

First to win the Rugby World Cup!!! Sort of like the World Series except that more than one country competes!!!

[TaoJones]

. . . concerning the "World" Series. It isn't accurate, though, to say only one country is involved in Major League Baseball. I doubt many Canadians consider Toronto, home of the Blue Jays, to be a part of the US.

Sincere congratulations on the Rugby World Cup!

TaoJones