Really exciting environmental news (1 Viewer)

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superchuck500 said:
We have a science thread dude.

You think your science article is more specialer?


Also maybe stupid question but is it a problem if everything becomes highly reflective? Where does the reflected radiation go? Can concentrations of reflected radiation be bad?
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I'm here for this response
 
superchuck500 said:
We have a science thread dude.

You think your science article is more specialer?


Also maybe stupid question but is it a problem if everything becomes highly reflective? Where does the reflected radiation go? Can concentrations of reflected radiation be bad?
Click to expand...

So what we're talking about here is reflecting light radiation. Nothing ionizing so that isn't a concern.

The sun doesn't heat the air like you might think. Its energy makes its way through the atmosphere and hits the ground. That energy heats the ground, which in turn heats the air above it. That's why the higher you go the colder it gets (until you hit the thermosphere, which is what protects us from all the dangerous solar radiation. Then it gets hotter till you actually leave the atmosphere).

The reason that it feels hotter in the sun than in the shade is because you only experience heating from what's radiating out of the ground when you're in the shade. In the sun you're also absorbing the light radiation.

With this paint, the reflected light radiation is just going back out into the air. No energy's been added (it's just the same solar light energy being reflected) so no additional heat would be produced. You personally would probably feel hotter standing next to something painted with this but the actual temperature wouldn't be any higher.

One real concern though would be what types of structures actually get painted with it. It would be possible to create a "death ray" with the reflected light energy. There are a couple buildings in London where this happened because the architect (the same guy built TWO accidental death rays) designed them in such a way that at certain times the sun's rays are perpendicular to the windows, creating dangerous reflective energy. The heat generated was enough to melt cars.

Basically: Don't let anyone who isn't an engineer touch this stuff and we're golden :hihi:
 
Swamprat said:
Okay... the chemistry folk better get on the program... gonna need some super duty anti-mold/mildew additives to keep up the effectiveness of this new paint.
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This is true, but after thinking on it for a few minutes: The article specifically talks about using it to paint a roof, and that would absolutely be the best place to put it. BUT now we're talking about a highly reflective surface reflecting the sun's energy back up into the air. The FAA might have something to say about that. Odds are if this were ever to become widely used its effectiveness would have to be reduced from the getgo.

Or we can turn every home into a death ray to shoot at planes. I'm good either way :hihi:
 
Xeno said:
So what we're talking about here is reflecting light radiation. Nothing ionizing so that isn't a concern.

The sun doesn't heat the air like you might think. Its energy makes its way through the atmosphere and hits the ground. That energy heats the ground, which in turn heats the air above it. That's why the higher you go the colder it gets (until you hit the thermosphere, which is what protects us from all the dangerous solar radiation. Then it gets hotter till you actually leave the atmosphere).

The reason that it feels hotter in the sun than in the shade is because you only experience heating from what's radiating out of the ground when you're in the shade. In the sun you're also absorbing the light radiation.

With this paint, the reflected light radiation is just going back out into the air. No energy's been added (it's just the same solar light energy being reflected) so no additional heat would be produced. You personally would probably feel hotter standing next to something painted with this but the actual temperature wouldn't be any higher.

One real concern though would be what types of structures actually get painted with it. It would be possible to create a "death ray" with the reflected light energy. There are a couple buildings in London where this happened because the architect (the same guy built TWO accidental death rays) designed them in such a way that at certain times the sun's rays are perpendicular to the windows, creating dangerous reflective energy. The heat generated was enough to melt cars.

Basically: Don't let anyone who isn't an engineer touch this stuff and we're golden :hihi:
Click to expand...
interesting but 2 questions:
it's cooler under an umbrella, no? even though you're walking over previously uncovered ground
what of humidity? isn't the moisture in the air getting warmed? wouldn't sunlight reflected off surfaces increase the heat index?
 
guidomerkinsrules said:
interesting but 2 questions:
it's cooler under an umbrella, no? even though you're walking over previously uncovered ground
what of humidity? isn't the moisture in the air getting warmed? wouldn't sunlight reflected off surfaces increase the heat index?
Click to expand...

It feels cooler under an umbrella for the same reason. Your skin isn't receiving the light radiation anymore. The heat radiating from the ground and the air temperature are unchanged. You feel cooler but it isn't actually any cooler.

All of those factors are taken into account when trying to get an accurate air temperature, which is what's generally reported. Heat index takes humidity into account. It isn't an actual temperature, it's just an approximation of how it feels to us. But yes, it would feel hotter standing next to one of these surfaces. I don't think they're really meaning for this to be used to paint an entire house or building though, just the roof would do most of the work.
 
Xeno said:
It feels cooler under an umbrella for the same reason. Your skin isn't receiving the light radiation anymore. The heat radiating from the ground and the air temperature are unchanged. You feel cooler but it isn't actually any cooler.

All of those factors are taken into account when trying to get an accurate air temperature, which is what's generally reported. Heat index takes humidity into account. It isn't an actual temperature, it's just an approximation of how it feels to us. But yes, it would feel hotter standing next to one of these surfaces. I don't think they're really meaning for this to be used to paint an entire house or building though, just the roof would do most of the work.
Click to expand...
gotcha
Ok so how about this - you have solar panels that are like a sandwich
The bottom part (closest to the house) are painted with this material
The top part is translucent on the side facing the sun, but the bottom part traps the heat reflecting off of the paint - so the ‘meat’ of the sandwich is trapped heat which *engineering magic* becomes an energy source
??
 
guidomerkinsrules said:
gotcha
Ok so how about this - you have solar panels that are like a sandwich
The bottom part (closest to the house) are painted with this material
The top part is translucent on the side facing the sun, but the bottom part traps the heat reflecting off of the paint - so the ‘meat’ of the sandwich is trapped heat which *engineering magic* becomes an energy source
??
Click to expand...

I dunno if Neil deGrasse Tyson has done a StarTalk on that so I'm clueless :hihi:

My gut tells me that trapping heat against your roof would be counterproductive though.
 
If only it helped with humidity, then we'd be in business. Maybe we could just install dehumidifiers in Louisiana and paint our homes super white.
 

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