Photosynthesis in a beaker.

• Position: Chemistry - Brief Article

In a step toward creating energy from sunlight, as plants do, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, have invented a compound that produces hydrogen gas with the help of a catalyst and a zap of light. Professor of chemistry Daniel Nocera and former MIT graduate student Alan Heyduk found that creating a molecule to replace a leaf--essentially, photosynthesis in a beaker--could provide a cheap, clean future energy source.

If scientists can make hydrogen, it could combine with the oxygen in the air to produce water. This is the process that fuel cells use to generate energy. Within fuel cells, which are being produced by various manufacturers for vehicles and buildings, it would take a photocatalyst and solar...