Image Credit: DOE/Argonne National Laboratory The pink color of salt lakes is caused by salt-loving microorganisms, called halobacteria.   from CleanTechnica. Bacteriorhodopsin — an intriguing protein found within the membranes of the ancient microorganisms living in the desert salt flats of California and Nevada — may allow for the cheap, efficient production of “environmentally friendly” hydrogen fuel from nothing but sunlight and saltwater, according to new research from the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory. By combining bacteriorhodopsin with semiconducting nano-particles, the researchers were able to create a new system that utilizes light to spark a catalytic process that results in hydrogen fuel being produced. The great potential of titanium dioxide nanoparticles, with regard to light-based reactions, has long been known to those in the scientific community, at least as far back as the early 1970s, when researchers learned that,…