Infinitesimally small quantum dots can turn a window into a see-through solar panel!

Thanks to the University of Minnesota for sponsoring this video! http://twin-cities.umn.edu/

Thanks also to our supporters on https://www.patreon.com/MinuteEarth
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If you want to learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:
Solar window: a window that functions like an ordinary window but also generates power like a solar panel

Nanoparticle (also called nanopowder or nanocluster or nanocrystal): a microscopic particle with at least one dimension less than 100 nm. These tiny objects often have characteristics that differ from larger versions of the same material.

Quantum dots (QD): tiny nanoparticles of some kind of semiconducting material, only several nanometers in size, so small that their optical and electronic properties differ from those of larger particles.
The QDs embedded in solar windows can absorb radiation largely in short wavelengths and re-emit in longer wavelengths; useful for capturing solar energy and successfully tranferring it to the solar cells on the edges of the pane.
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Credits (and Twitter handles):
Script Writer: Peter/Emily
Script Editor: Alex Reich (@alexhreich)
Video Illustrator: Qingyang Chen (@QCVisual)
Video Director: Kate Yoshida (@KateYoshida)
Video Narrator: Kate Yoshida (@KateYoshida)
With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Ever Salazar, Emily Elert, Peter Reich, David Goldenberg
Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder

Image Credits: Thumbnail: R. Lunt, MSU.
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References:

Bradshaw, L. R., Knowles, K. E., McDowall, S. & Gamelin, D. R. Nanocrystals for luminescent solar concentrators. Nano Lett. 15, 1315–1323 (2015).

Meinardi, F., Ehrenberg, S., Dhamo, L., Carulli, F., Mauri, M., Bruni, F., Simonutti, R., Kortshagen, U. and Brovelli, S., 2017. Highly efficient luminescent solar concentrators based on earth-abundant indirect-bandgap silicon quantum dots. Nature Photonics, 11(3), pp.177-185.

Meinardi, F. et al. Highly efficient large-area colourless luminescent solar concentrators using heavy-metal-free colloidal quantum dots. Nat. Nanotech.10, 878–885 (2015).

Yang, C, R. R. Lunt. Limits of Visibly Transparent Luminescent Solar Concentrators. Adv. Opt. Mat., 5, 8, 1600851, 2017.

Zhao Y., G. Meek, B. Levine, and R. R. Lunt, “Near-Infrared Harvesting Transparent Luminescent Solar Concentrators”. Adv. Opt. Mat., 2, 606, 2014.

Thanks to spotted hyenas’ unusual social structure, males experience a tough life of solitude, harassment, and deprivation.

Thanks also to our supporters on https://www.patreon.com/MinuteEarth
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If you want to learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:
Sex role reversed species: a species in which males and females exhibit roles other than what might be expected based on other aspects of their biology and mating systems
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Credits (and Twitter handles):
Script Writer: Kate Yoshida (@KateYoshida)
Script Editor: Emily Elert (@eelert)
Video Illustrator: Ever Salazar (@eversalazar)
Video Director: Kate Yoshida (@KateYoshida)
Video Narrator: Kate Yoshida (@KateYoshida)
With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Alex Reich, Peter Reich, David Goldenberg
Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder

Video Credits: Hyenas feeding - Kate Yoshida
Image Credits: Scarface - Kate Yoshida

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If you liked this week’s video, we think you might also like:
A blog by researchers currently studying spotted hyenas in Kenya's Masai Mara: http://msuhyenas.blogspot.com/

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References:

Chepko-Sade, B. D. & Z. T. Halpin. 1987. Mammalian dispersal patterns: the effects of social stucture on population genetics. University of Chicago Press. Chicago, Illinois.

Holekamp, K.E. & Smale, L. (2000) Feisty females and meek males: reproductive strategies in the spotted hyena. In Reproduction in Context. K. Wallen and J. Schneider (Eds). MIT Press. Cambridge. MA. Pp. 257-285.

Kruuk H. 1972. The spotted hyena: a study of predation and social behavior. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Smale, L., Nunes, S., and Holekamp, K.E. (1997) Sexually dimorphic dispersal in mammals: patterns, causes and consequences. Advances in the Study of Behavior 26: 181-250.

Strauss, E., February 2017, personal communication.

Turner, J., June 2017, personal communication.

Van Horn, R.C., McElhinny, T.L. & Holekamp, K. E. (2003) Age estimation and dispersal in the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta). Journal of Mammalogy 84: 1019-1030.

Watts, H. E. & Holekamp, K. E. (2007) Hyena societies. Current Biology 17: R657-R660.

Worms cause major changes to ecosystems, but those changes aren’t always new.

Thanks to the University of Minnesota for sponsoring this video! http://twin-cities.umn.edu/

Thanks also to our supporters on https://www.patreon.com/MinuteEarth
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If you want to learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:
Invasive species: A non-native species that causes harm to the ecosystem.
Biome: A large, naturally occurring community of flora and fauna.
Duff layer: The moderately to highly decomposed organic material between the leaf litter and the soil.
Seedling: A young plant less than one meter high.
Sapling: A young tree that’s bigger than a seedling.
Graminoids: Herbaceous plants and grasses.
Coevolution: The process that occurs when two closely associated species influence each other’s evolutionary paths.
Savanna: A grassy plain with scattered tree coverage.
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Credits (and Twitter handles):
Script Writer: David Goldenberg (@dgoldenberg)
Script Editor: Alex Reich (@alexhreich)
Video Illustrator: Qingyang Chen (@QCVisual)
Video Director: Emily Elert (@eelert)
Video Narrator: Emily Elert (@eelert)
With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Kate Yoshida, Ever Salazar, Peter Reich
Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder

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Like our videos?
Subscribe to MinuteEarth on YouTube: http://goo.gl/EpIDGd
Support us on Patreon: https://goo.gl/ZVgLQZ
And visit our website: https://www.minuteearth.com/

Also, say hello on:
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Twitter: http://goo.gl/Y1aWVC

And download our videos on itunes: https://goo.gl/sfwS6n
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References:

Dylan Craven, Madhav P. Thakur, Erin K. Cameron, Lee E. Frelich, Robin Beauséjour, Robert B. Blair, Bernd Blossey, James Burtis, Amy Choi, Andrea Dávalos, Timothy J. Fahey, Nicholas A. Fisichelli, Kevin Gibson, I. Tanya Handa, Kristine Hopfensperger, Scott R. Loss, Victoria Nuzzo, John C. Maerz, Tara Sackett, Bryant C. Scharenbroch, Sandy M. Smith, Mark Vellend, Lauren G. Umek, Nico Eisenhauer (2016). The unseen invaders: introduced earthworms as drivers of change in plant communities in North American forests (a meta-analysis). Global Change Biology. 1-10. Retrieved from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.13446/full

Sonja Migge-Kleian, Mary Ann McLean, John C. Maerz, and Liam Heneghan (2006). The influence of invasive earthworms on indigenous fauna in ecosystems previously uninhabited by earthworms. Biological Invasions. 8:6 (1275-1285). Retrieved from: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10530-006-9021-9

Alexander M.Roth, Timothy J.S.Whitfeld, Alexandra G. Lodge, Nico Eisenhauer, Lee E. Frelich· and Peter B. Reich (2015). Invasive earthworms interact with abiotic conditions to influence the invasion of common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica). Oecologia. 178: 219:230. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25481818

Hendrit, Paul (Editor). 2007. Biological Invasions Belowground: Earthworms as Invasive Species.

Wackett, Adrian. (2017). Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, University of Minnesota. Personal Communication.

Because of space physics, one faraway asteroid is likely the progenitor of almost a third of all the meteorites on Earth.

Thanks to Skillshare for sponsoring this video: skl.sh/MinuteEarth

Thanks also to our supporters on https://www.patreon.com/MinuteEarth

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If you want to learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:

Asteroid: A rocky body smaller than a planet that is orbiting the sun.
Meteoroid: A smaller rocky body moving in the solar system.
Meteor: A meteoroid that has entered the Earth’s atmosphere.
Meteorite: A meteor that hits the Earth.
Orbital resonance: A force that occurs when orbiting bodies exert a regular, periodic gravitational influence on each other, because of the length of their relative orbits.
Kirkwood Gap: A dip in the distribution of main belt asteroids that correspond to the locations of orbital resonances with Jupiter.

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Credits (and Twitter handles):

Script Writer: David Goldenberg (@dgoldenberg)

Script Editor: Alex Reich

Video Illustrator: Jorge

Video Director: Emily Elert (@eelert)

Video Narrator: Emily Elert (@eelert)

With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Kate Yoshida, Ever Salazar, Peter Reich

Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder

_________________________________________

Like our videos?

Subscribe to MinuteEarth on YouTube: http://goo.gl/EpIDGd

Support us on Patreon: https://goo.gl/ZVgLQZ

And visit our website: https://www.minuteearth.com/

Also, say hello on:

Facebook: http://goo.gl/FpAvo6

Twitter: http://goo.gl/Y1aWVC

And download our videos on itunes:  https://goo.gl/sfwS6n

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If you liked this week’s video, we think you might also like:

A terrifying but fascinating look at the destructive power of potential meteorites: http://www.purdue.edu/impactearth/

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References:

Burbine, T., McCoy, T., Meibom, A., Royer, C., Gladman, B., and Keil, K. (2002). Meteoritic Parent Bodies: Their Number and Identification. Asteroids III. 653-667. Retrieved from: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002aste.book..653B

Farinella, P., Gonczi, R., Froeschle, Ch., and Froeschle, C. (1993). The Injection of Asteroid Fragments into Resonances. Icarus. 101: 174-187. Retrieved from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001910358371016X

Fieber-Beyer, S., Gaffey, M., Bottke, W., and Hardersen, P. (2015). Potentially hazardous Asteroid 2007 LE: Compositional link to the black chondrite Rose City and Asteroid (6) Hebe. Icarus. 250: 430-437. Retrieved from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019103514007088

Gaffey, M. and Gilbert, S. (1998). Asteroid 6 Hebe: The probable parent body of the H-type ordinary chondrites and the IIE iron meteorites. Meteoritics and Planetary Science. 33: 1281-1295. Retrieved from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1945-5100.1998.tb01312.x/abstract

Vokrouhlicky, D., and Farinella, P. (2000). Efficient delivery of meteorites to the Earth from a wide range of asteroid parent bodies. Nature. 407: 606-608. Retrieved from: https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v407/n6804/full/407606a0.html

Moons, M. and Morbidelli, A. (1995). Secular Resonances in Mean Motion Commensurabilities: The 4/1, 3/1, 5/2, and 7/3 Cases. Icarus. 114: 33-50. Retrieved from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001910358571041X

Burbine, Thomas. (2017). Assistant Professor of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts. Personal Communication.