Yea, hate supporting mummers, too.

Thanks. I see that one.

Sorry, there is no picture in your post.

And yet, it makes absolutely no difference to https://keelingcurve.ucsd.edu/

I don’t crave it, but lite beer definitely helps to dull hunger. Less calories than eating solid food.

Yeah, Nature has certainly declined in quality over the last decades.

I would expect more from multijunction cells. Wikipedia has a very nice article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cell_efficiency

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-11223-x

Abstract

Kirchhoff demonstrated the reciprocity between absorptivity and emissivity for blackbody radiation in 1860 (ref. 1), thereby establishing the general principle that a good absorber must also be a good emitter. This principle underpins the generalized Planck’s law2 and, when applied to semiconductors—in the form of the van Roosbroeck–Shockley equation3—results in substantial limitations to solar energy conversion. Here we demonstrate how this reciprocity can be circumvented in semiconductors, such as bismuth sulfide, showing a pseudo-direct bandgap character—that is, featuring a lower-energy indirect transition paired with a direct transition placed a few kBT above. After determining the pseudo-direct bandgap nature of bismuth sulfide, we reveal how this feature substantially retards bimolecular electron–hole recombination in this material with respect to classic direct semiconductors4. The resulting combination of a high absorption coefficient and delayed recombination offers the unprecedented possibility of overcoming limitations associated with Planck’s law, with far-reaching potential for solar energy conversion.

Are we talking about the same book https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Selfish_Gene ? What on Earth is a “darwinian solution”?

The Nature article is about plain darwinian evolution though.

That is actually an advantage. Our massive advantage though is modern analytics and modern industry.

Fahrenheit? Really?

Abstract

The commensurate charge density wave (CCDW) phase in 1T-TaS2 is a prototypical correlated state tied to diverse emergent quantum phenomena. However, its stability is intrinsically limited to cryogenic temperatures. Tailoring correlated electronic states and stabilizing the CCDW phase at room temperature offer new opportunities to investigate and control emergent phenomena under ambient conditions. Here we report a molecular engineering strategy to modulate the charge density wave (CDW) phases in 1T-TaS2/arginine hybrid superlattices. We show that the intercalated arginine molecules exhibit strong non-covalent interactions with the 1T-TaS2 atomic layers, effectively modulating the correlated electronic phase and increasing the CCDW stabilization temperature to 330 K. In contrast, other weakly interacting amino acids produce a less pronounced modulation of the CDW phase transitions. Computational modelling reveals that arginine molecules reshape the CDW energy landscape, enhancing both the thermodynamic stability and kinetic robustness against thermal fluctuations. These findings establish a versatile molecular engineering strategy for tailoring correlated states and electronic orders in van der Waals materials.

The last time SciAm was good was in the 1970s.

You still need to log in. Hard pass.

I find LLMs very useful in my professional (senior IT consultant) and hobby IT life.

Economics never worked out for the Concorde, and supersonic flight is intrinsically linked to high hydrocarbon fuel consumption. That alone should keep it to the technology demonstrator niche.