This week we look at a prototype of a bionic eye and some Grid Scale Batteries for renewable energy that are based upon Zinc. Also a breakthrough has been made in developing a system for error correction in Quantum Computing. Efficient error correction is vital to useable Quantum Computing. We also take a look at two startups that have recently raised funding. One will build a new type of semiconductor and the other a new way of buying online.
Bionic Eyes
Many of you will have heard of the Australian invention the Cochlear Implant. Their implant takes sound and converts it to an electrical signal that the human brain can be taught to understand thus allowing the deaf to hear. The dream for many researchers is to develop a similar system for the blind to enable sight.
Researchers at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology have created a proof of concept bionic eye that could surpass the sensitivity of a human eye. The eye is a three dimensional artificial retina that uses a dense array of light sensitive nanowires. These wires mimic the brain’s visual cortex and relay the visual information gathered by the sensors to a computer for processing.
The nanowires are highly sensitive. They could surpass the optical wavelength range of the human eye allowing the bionic eye to see some infrared light. This would give a user a degree of night vision. Users would also be able to see smaller objects and a further distance.
There is still a lot of work to be done in order to connect this bionic eye to the Human Visual System and for it to be able to transmit electrical signals that the brain can interpret and thus “see”. It is however an important step forward.
Correcting Errors in Quantum Computing
Every computer system creates errors, however we don’t see those errors. This is due to a series of sophisticated error correction systems that catch those errors before they impact our phones or computers. Usually our computers will perform billions of operations over many years before a single error triggers a blank screen or some other malfunction.
Quantum computing is still very much in development however at the current state of progress, quantum operations are lucky to have fewer than one error for every 20 operations. That means millions of errors per hour thus requiring most of the qubits (quantum bits used for calculation in a quantum computer) to used for error correction rather than calculation. This makes quantum computing much less effective than it could be. Clearly that needs to be fixed before quantum computing can be considered useful or reliable.
Dr Ben Brown from the University of Sydney, may have already found the solution. He has achieved something that quantum researchers to date thought was impossible. Dr Brown developed an error correcting code that will allow much more of the hardware in the quantum computer to do useful calculations. He did this by applying already known code that operates in three dimensions to a two dimensional framework. The trick being time is used as the third dimension.
I have read the underlying paper that describes this new approach and I would explain it to you however that would take a lot of space and quite frankly, I didn’t understand much of it at all. It could have been written in Russian and I would have had a similar level of comprehension. Suffice to say, this solves a really important problem and it is an important step forward in the quest for reliable quantum computing. For those that want to know more, Dr Brown’s paper can be found here.
Zinc-Air Batteries
A Canadian company, Zinc8 has developed a cheaper, safer and significantly longer lasting battery when compared to lithium-ion batteries. They have achieved this by overcoming the problem of the formation of a bumpy coating of zinc dendrites on the electrodes in Zinc based batteries. These dendrites cause short circuits. Their process removes these dendrite particles which can be transferred to a storage tank.
Power from a renewable source, usually wind or solar power, is used to generate zinc particles in a Zinc Regenerator. The zinc particles flow into a Storage tank and are maintained in potassium hydroxide electrolyte until they are required. Whenever power is needed, the zinc particles are delivered to the Power Stack where they are recombined with oxygen to generate electricity. The zinc oxide by-product is returned to the storage tank for later regeneration.
The capacity of a Zinc8 battery can be made bigger by increasing the size of the storage tank and the volume of electrolyte it contains. An 8 hour Zinc8 storage costs about US$250/kWh (kilowatt hour) and falls to US$100/kWh for a 32 hour system and US$60 for 100 hours. Lithium-ion batteries cost about US$300/kWh for any duration over eight hours.
This new technology is used for grid scale power storage for renewable wind and solar energy farms. Grid scale batteries remove the intermittent and unpredictable nature of renewable energy sources. The firm has recently won the New York Power Authority’s (NYPA) Innovation Challenge and is working with NYPA on building a 100/kWh pilot project.
Gallium Nitride Semiconductors
Porotech, a UK company has just raised GBP1.5m to develop a pilot plant to produce Gallium Nitride Semiconductors. Spun out of the University of Cambridge, Porotech is aiming to commercialize the use of Gallium Nitride and (they say) revolutionize the electronics industry.
The team has developed porous GaN (Gallium Nitride) wafers and other material technologies that can be targeted to specific final device applications. This will allow more cost effective manufacture of LED’s, lasers, power electronics, quantum light sources, sensors and solar cells.
Buying via clicking on hashtags
Boost allows companies to sell products to consumers without using a website, no app and no checkout. Registered customers can shop by clicking on a #hashtag and buy products in seconds.
The seller adds their product information, e.g. name, price, image and inventory to the Boost System. Boost then creates a unique #hashtag for that product. Wherever the seller places that #hashtag (e.g. social media, video, online magazine, podcast) the hashtag becomes an instant and shareable point of sale.
A buyer sees a product they like e.g. a beanie (see below), clicks on the hashtag, a text message is sent and the buyer responds with Yes and the purchase is complete. The buyer’s credit card has been preregistered with Boost along with a delivery address.
Sellers can have a full e-commerce capability without the need to pay for, update or advertise a website. Shopping is changing!
Paying it Forward
If you have a start-up or know of a start-up that has a product ready for market please let me know. I would be happy to have a look and feature the startup in this newsletter. Also if any startups need introductions please get in touch and I will help where I can.
If you have any questions or comments please email me via my website craigcarlyon.com or comment below.
I would also appreciate it if you could forward this newsletter to anyone that you think might be interested.