MIT researchers discovered that light can cause evaporation of water from a surface without the need for heat. This “photomolecular effect” could be important for understanding climate change and for improving some industrial processes.

the scientist who discovered this is MIT’s Gang Chen who was one of the main victims of the FBI’s “China initiative”, the McCarthy-like initiative where they went after scientists of Chinese descent.

  • HurkieDrubman@lemm.ee
    2·
    5 days ago

    why would the assumption have been that non-infrared light wasn’t imparting energy in the first place?

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆OP
      3·
      5 days ago

      presumably because the effect is very small and it was assumed that the amount of energy imparted was not sufficient to cause evaporation