Image of Experimental Results
A recent scientific discovery has been made by Chinese Scientists Qiang Cheng and Tie Jun Cui that could have members of both the Scientific and Environmental jumping in applause.
Dr Ian O’Neill of the Discovery Channel describes the finding as the “first black hole ever created on earth.” However, this idea is as provocative as it is misleading, since the result is not an actual black hole but a substance that mimics the curvature of space-time around a black hole.
The possibility of mimicking a black hole was all based on scientific theory until Tie Jun Cui and Qiang Cheng at the Southeast University in Nanjing managed to create a working model of this idea. In doing so, they found a neat way to trap energy and convert it into heat. As O’Neill mentions, this method “could revolutionize future solar panel design, making the production of solar energy a lot more efficient than it is currently.”
Aside from reminding us of the extraordinary capacities of human intelligence, findings such as these present us with new opportunities and dilemmas when considered in light of our social and political world. If these findings do increase the efficiency of solar panels, it will undoubtedly strengthen the basis for converting to more eco-friendly ways of powering our technology. Yet this is only one of the many other ways in which these findings could possibly be applied. I can only hope that scientific findings like these can be used for such positive initiatives, although my realistic self also would not doubt that these findings could go towards military and security purposes. For that, only time and our State Department can tell.
I support the Environmental, but oppose the Scientific.