Some people erroneously believe that nature is really efficient at turning sunlight into energy. The fact of the matter is that typical photosynthesis processes actually amount to an efficiency rate of about 5%.
The leaf coloring is all wrong (but that’s a limitating factor partially imposed by the structure of chlorophyll). They should all be black!
Tanning lotions wanted
Anyone that has driven around in a dark colored car on a hot summer day or worn a black shirt while strolling along the beach with a metal detector (which obviously, only really cool people do) could tell you their body sphere attracts a lot of attention from our friend Mr. Sun.
This is because the color black does not reflect light — it absorbs it.
Celestially, one way astronomers measure objects in space is through their albedo. Or how much they reflect light.
For instance, the average albedo of Mars is 15%. The reason this is an average is because different parts of the surface reflect at different rates. The composition and altitude of various geographical features ranges from Valles Marineris (the largest canyon) to Olympus Mons (the tallest mountain) and can change overnight due to planet-wide dust storms that launch debris and dust miles into the air, changing its aggregate reflective qualities.
Taken to the most logical extremes: there is also the concept of Peaks of Eternal Light, or rather a geographical area that is continuously bathed in sunlight. Because the Earth rotates every day, no single terrestrial area is up for winning this award.
On the other hand, there are certain areas on the surface of the Moon that are suspected of receiving sunlight almost everyday of the year (sans a few hours from eclipses and maybe a few days during the winter).
While the logistical and financial realities are literally out of this world, there have been numerous engineering proposals to erect solar panels on the face of the moon to take advantage of this perpetual illumination — by beaming the accumulated energy back to earth via microwave antenna.
In continuing this thought experiment, I should point out that the moon has an average albedo of about 12%. Again, this is not the same thing as shining (like from a flash light). Think of albedo as a way of measuring mirror strength. The aggregate dust, pebbles, boulders, craters and crevices create the bright image we see every night… or don’t see.
What would happen to the nocturnal world if the entire moon became a black body object? For example, most solar panels have reflective properties because they are not entirely made out of one big piece of silicon-based absorption material. There are pieces of plastic, hinges, glass and other x-factors holding the material together that reflect sunlight.
Let us assume that in the fancy pants future some guy creates an atomically precise manufacturing process that allows engineers to build solar panels across the entire face of the moon, with an albedo no greater than charcoal (4%). As non-reflective as the flat and dull paint on your dad’s first car.
While I’m sure organizations like Green Peace, PETA, WWF would cry many rivers over this, I am curious to know how nocturnal creatures that use optical senses — highly-sensitive to moonlight — would be able to effectively navigate.
On the one hand the phases of the moon already create several nights without much moonlight, yet these creatures manage to flutter and scurry around. What would happen if the big nightlight failed to act as a big mirror?
I hope you cried as much as my inflatable doll did
While this is not going to probably ever occur in any of our lifetimes, the variables surrounding a black moon could possibly lead to solving half of the question that keeps some singulitarians up at night: how to power large amounts of computronium? [Note: large arrays of solar powered satellites grouped into a Dyson Sphere is still the leading candidate.]
And because I want a gold star from the teacher, the answer to the other half is of course: condensing the cosmological masses into increasingly tight densities, thereby reducing latency between nodes.
Perhaps the most efficient arrangement is ultimately a man-made blackbody of sorts. Capable of absorbing all sol-produced light waves (as well as the radiating heat) and converting it all into large amounts of electricity to power 3D chips denser than lead or the inner core… fused impossibly tight, meters on end.
Paging Zyvex Labs and Jim Von Ehr.
See also:
Megascale engineering: Matrioshka Brain edition
Mass drivers and Solar Power Satellites