Boyé Lafayette De Mente
TOKYO—We have noted before that progress Japanese scientists are making in several basic fields could result in some industries becoming obsolete and fundamentally altering the way people work and live.
This often amazing progress in discovering new technology is epitomized by scientists at five collaborating Japanese universities who recently announced that they had succeeded in creating a thread-like material that converts light into electricity, which in turn warms the thread, making it an independent source of heat.
This new heat-making material is so sensitive to light that it generates electricity and heat when exposed to the light of an ordinary lamp.
At present the electricity-heat producing filaments, a project supported by the Ministry of Environment, are too short to weave into useful garments, but the researchers say they will be able to create large sheets of the fabric within five years, making it feasible for use in clothing and other applications.
Star, Inc., the start-up company responsible for manufacturing the fabric, notes that the energy conversion efficiency rate of the electrified thread is now just three percent, but that it will soon be able to increase this rate to 10 percent.
The company also says that once it reaches the mass-production stage the new fabric it will be cheaper to produce than standard silicon solar cells, a development that could impact not only on clothing and other fabric items but also on a variety of other applications.
Star Inc. says the first large sheets of energy-producing fabric will most likely be spread out on unused rice fields in the winter to produce electricity for nearby homes and other things.
This means, of course, that the sheets could be spread out over any unused area—from open country, fields, and vacant lots to the tops of office buildings. Self-heating clothing, the company adds, will come later.
The fact that it will be possible to use the self-heating fabric to manufacturing clothing is something like science fiction becoming reality...especially for people living in cool and cold climates who would not need thick or multiple layers of clothing to stay warm.
Other Scientists Going to the Bugs!
As also mentioned before, Japanese researchers have turned the mimicry of insects and other small life forms into a science, creating new products based on the structures found in such things as thistle seeds [which gave birth to Velcro]; the hair on the feet of geckos [which resulted in the use of carbon nanotubes to mimic the hair and produce a powerful peel-off tape]; the fine irregularities of moths eyes to create anti-glare acrylic film [this moth-feature helps prevent preying birds from spotting them].
Other creative break-thru products Japanese scientists have copied from nature: a multi-colored film patterned after the patchwork of colors on the wings of jewel beetles which change depending on the angle of view; swimwear that mimics the skin of sharks; and the front ends of Japan’s newest “bullet trains,” copied from the shape of owl wings.
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Boyé
Lafayette De Mente has been involved with Asia since the late 1940s as a member of
a U.S. intelligence agency, journalist and editor. He is a graduate of Jōchi
University in Tokyo, Japan and Thunderbird School of Global Management in
Glendale, Arizona, USA. In addition to books on the business practices, social
behavior and languages of China, Japan, Korea and Mexico he has written
extensively about the plague of male dominance and the moral collapse of the
U.S. and the Western world in general. Recent books include: CHINA Understanding & Dealing with
the Chinese Way of Doing Business; JAPAN Understanding & Dealing with the
NEW Japanese Way of Doing Business; AMERICA'S FAMOUS HOPI INDIANS; ARIZONA'S
LORDS OF THE LAND [the Navajos] and SPEAK JAPANESE TODAY - A Little
Language Goes a Long Way! To see a full list of his 60-plus
books go to: www.authorsonlinebookshop.com.
All of his titles are available from Amazon.com.
