Amazing 'Hybrid' Solar-Powered Sea Slug Does Photosynthesis
The sea slug Elysia chlorotica is a mollusk that can grow to more than 2 inches long, and has been found in the intertidal zone between Nova Scotia, Canada, and Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, as well as in Florida. Juvenile sea slugs eat the nontoxic brown alga Vaucheria litorea and become photosynthetic - or solar-powered - after stealing millions of algal plastids, which are like tiny solar panels, and storing them in their gut lining.
(Sea slug does photosynthesis)
That's a neat trick. If only humans can figure out how to do that, we could become hybrid solar-powered organisms ourselves, if we can get used to the green color.
Thankfully, Star Trek has long been a champion of green acceptance.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!)
is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for
the Invention Category that interests
you, the Glossary, the Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
Illustrating Classic Heinlein With AI
'Stasis, cold sleep, hibernation, hypothermia, reduced metabolism, call it what you will - the logistics-medicine research teams had found a way to stack people like cordwood and use them when needed.'
Deflector Plasma Screen For Drones ala Star Wars
'If the enemy persists in attacking or even intensifies their power, the density of the plasma in space will suddenly increase, causing it to reflect most of the incoming energy like a mirror.'