Photosynthesis, the process which energizes plants by breakdown of water using sunlight got artificial. Nocera and his colleagues conducted an experiment in which solar panels were used to power an electrolyzer with cobalt and phosphate catalysts to break down water into its elemental constituents, hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen thus produced was fed into a fuel cell to produce electricity.

While the sun generates electricity during the day, nights and cloudy days would be lighted up by these hydrogen fuel cells. When Nocera declared this idea to the world, it triggered criticism. Nocera’s mentor, Thomas Meyer feels that it is too quick to call it an answer for artificial photosynthesis, because, though the catalysts are technologically important, they may not be put to practical use until they have been improved further. Another researcher from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, CO says that when compared to the catalysts available in the market which run at about 1,000 milliamps per square centimeter, Nocera’s electrolyzer has jus 1-10 milliamp per square centimeter of energy density which is about 800-2000 times less.

Apart from these, critics also highlight the loss of energy that would occur during the conversion process and the cost factor which is very important for putting any innovation into public use. Now, we have to wait and watch if the new technique would rise or just lay in peace.

Source: TechnologyReview

The world is very convenient these days with the way the internet has spread. It is easy to say something, never be accountable for it and just vanish away into darkness. Of course, as a writer at any level you have to accept what comes at you without really being too influenced by the nonsense. ‘Always take the sensible views and leave what falls at both extremes’, is what I tend to believe works best. There is no reason to react to someone who just wants to say ‘You Suck’ with user name ‘mastedon34829’ and there is surely no nead to put it on your resume when ‘MrAwesome’ says ‘You are brilliant’. But apart from that what is really the place of a critic in the modern world?

One of the first stories I remember of how criticism can kill even the greatest of minds was when I heard the story of one John Keats. By now it is pretty well known how some ‘self-proclaimed’ intellectuals judged what they thought was really bad poetry and castigated the great man for his work in a ruthless fashion. The consequence was not so much his pen stopping to flow but his heart ceasing to beat. (That along with rejected love, partly) But, it made me always aware of what I said, not that I’m a top notch critic, but because there are people who take every opinion too seriously.

A critic’s job is indeed very, very easy. We just sit and judge and are most often at no risk of being judged by others. We bring out the keen glasses and the sharp knife to dissect whatever we see. Over a period of time, the attentions shifts from observing the work to searching for faults. The focus is firmly set on how one can out do other critics by scoring the point. When we rave, we make it big and when we disagree we shout that out too. Yet, we never worry too much about the people we end up degrading just to get our daily jobs done or to fill up the words in the ever-growing print or electronic media.

What is more surprising is how we now have two distinct sets of judging things. One is the ‘critically acclaimed work’ and the other a ‘popular/commercial version’. Apparently, even if your work is accepted by 90% of the world, if the critics say it’s bad, then it’s not really work of art and you have not created something really impressive. So, let me understand this. I make a movie, 90% of my audience likes it and just because few snobs who never want to go with the flow hate it, I am not really a good movie maker? Who are these few critics and what makes their opinion more valuable than others opinion? At the end of the day, one person is still just one person.

One must realize that all our criticism put together is still not as valuable as one ‘badly’ put together idea. It is not opinions that drive the world, it is actions. I share this with my fellow critics not to belittle them as without a hand to correct, there is no direction towards tomorrow. But that hand must correct mistakes, not destroy dreams by unleashing all their excellent, eloquent skill. Our responsibility is to improve- not condemn, suggest constructively- not write off budding ideas, to encourage little nuggets and see them grow- not nip ideas in the bud.

I share this view not because everyone is cynical, but the anonymity of the internet allows you to take out your frustrations where they do not belong. I share this cos the best budding ideas first pass through our hands, the hands of the bloggers, writers and reviewers on the net. People create and we spread the creations across the planet. One need not glorify everything and one surely need not hold back with criticism. But something with a positive step forward is a lot better than saying ‘this is just not good’. We too have a responsibility, no matter how small or big we are.