Inspired by Norway’s ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to harness power from mixing fresh and saltwater, this experiment delves into the science of osmosis. Starting with a simple demonstration using sugar water and a membrane, the project escalates to a DIY power generator built from toilet parts and specialized filters. Can the immense theoretical pressure of osmosis be practically harnessed to spin a turbine?
Trying to Build Norway’s Failed Osmosis Power Plant
A DIY scientist attempts to replicate a failed Norwegian power plant by building his own osmotic generator to see if energy can truly be harvested by mixing salt and fresh water.
Related Posts
To spur the construction of affordable, resilient homes, the future is concrete
A modular, precast system of concrete ‘rings’ can be connected in different ways to build a range of…
Designing a “Keep Out” Sign to Last 10,000 Years
The proposed warning reads, "This is not a place of honor… What is here is dangerous and repulsive to us… The danger is still present, in your time, as it was in ours."
We’ve Come So Close to Annihiliating Ourselves—Multiple Times
Physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer helmed research that would end a world war; unfortunately, what he found would forever…
Searching for a Green Source of Helium
Helium as a gas may seem innocuous at first, but it sits at the center of several advanced…
