A new kind of solar panel, developed at the University of Michigan, has achieved high efficiency in transforming water into hydrogen and oxygen — imitating a crucial step in natural photosynthesis(光合作用). The outdoor version of the experiment, with less reliable sunlight and temperature, achieved 6.1% efficiency at turning the energy from the sun into hydrogen fuel. However, indoors, the system achieved 9% efficiency.

But the biggest benefit is driving down the cost of sustainable hydrogen. This is enabled by reducing the size of the semiconductor(半导体), typically the most expensive part of the device. The team’s self-healing semiconductor withstands concentrated light equivalent to 160 suns.

“We believe that artificial photosynthesis devices will be much more efficient than natural photosynthesis, which will provide a path toward carbon neutrality,” said Zetian Mi, U-M professor of electrical and computer engineering who led the study reported in Nature.

One major advance of the new technology is the ability to concentrate the sunlight without destroying the semiconductor that traps the light. “We reduced the size of the semiconductor by more than 100 times compared to some semiconductors only working at low light intensity,” said Peng Zhou, U-M research fellow in electrical and computer engineering and first author of the study. “Hydrogen produced by our technology could be very cheap.”

The next challenges the team intends to tackle are to further improve the efficiency and to achieve superhigh purity hydrogen that can be directly fed into fuel cells.

Everyone looks forward to progress, whether in one’s personal life or in the general society. Progress indicates a person’s ability to change the way he is living at the moment. Progress must lead to a better life and a better way of doing things. All these, however, remain true only in so far as people want to accept technology and move forward by finding new and more efficient ways of doing things.

However, at the back of the minds of many people, especially those who miss the “good old days”, efficiency comes with a price. When communication becomes more efficient, people are able to contact one another no matter where they are and at whatever time they wish to. The click of a button allows people miles apart to talk or see each other without even leaving their homes. With the communication gadgets, such as mobile phones and iPads, people often do not take the effort to visit one another personally. A personal visit carries with it the additional feature of having to be in the person’s presence for as long as the visit last. We cannot unnecessarily excuse ourselves or turn the other person off.

With efficiency also comes mass production. Such is the nature of factories and the success of industrialization today. Factories have improved efficiency. Unskillful tasks are left to machines and products are better made and produced with greater accuracy than any human hand could ever have done. However, with the improvements in efficiency also comes the loss of the personal touch when making these products. For example, many handicrafts(手工艺品) are now produced in a factory. Although this means that supply is better able to increase demand, now that the supply is quick and efficient, the demand might fall because mass production lowers the quality of the handicraft and it is difficult to find unique designs on each item.

Nevertheless, we must not commit the mistake of analyzing progress only from one point of view. In fact, progress has allowed tradition to keep up. It is only with progress and the invention of new technology that many old products can be brought back to their old state. New technology is required for old products to stay old.

It is people’s attitude towards progress that causes the type of influence that technology has on society. Technology is flexible. There is no fixed way of making use of it. Everything depends on people’s attitude. The worst effects of progress will fall on those who are unable to rethink their attitudes and views of society. When we accept progress and adapt it to suit our needs, a new “past” is created.

Researchers have been looking forward to using tiny flying robots to settle important tasks. The various machines could be used to help astronauts on space missions, and even to help bees with plant pollination(授粉). However, fitting the heavy electric equipment that is used to power and control the wings into the tiny robot has been challenging. Now thanks to RoboBee X-Wing—the world’s lightest aerial vehicle that can fly not tied to a power source.

Made by Harvard researchers, the insect-inspired robot weighs only 259 milligrams, has four wings whose distance is 3.5 centimeters, and stands 6.5 centimeters high. Its four small wings, which can flap up(拍动) to 170 times a second, are controlled by actuators(驱动器). They become small when the electricity passes through them. Six small solar cells, fitted above the wings to prevent them from disturbing the flight, provide the power.

RoboBee X-Wing is powered by six solar cells. To test its flying abilities, the team, led by doctor Noah Jafferis and PhD student Elizabeth Helbling, exposed the RoboBee X-Wing’s solar cells to LED lighting. To their delight, the tiny robot’s wings began to flap, and it rose, keeping a flight for about half a second. Though the robot lost its flight ability as soon as the power source was turned off, its short flight was cheered for its huge effect on the future of tiny flying robots.

However, though the current RoboBee X-Wing is a step in the right direction, it is not quite ready for main time. The researchers also hope to experiment with other power sources, such as batteries, sun light or radio frequency signals, and to add more advanced “brains” and sensor systems to navigate and complete tasks independently.