Energy storage in the internal states of molecules - old and new
Douglas Natelson (noreply@blogger.com)
A science story first, then a US research ecosystem story later. When we think about using molecules to store energy, it's usually in the context of food or fuel, so that chemical reactions take place - bonds are broken and remade, and in an exothermic reaction, the products end up with more kinetic energy (center of mass motion, molecular vibrations and rotations) than the initial reactants. However, there are other ways that molecules can store energy. I read about a cool example of this las