Move away from the Golf Course, LED screens that emit sound and Water based Flow Batteries for the home.
May 29
This week we find out about one of the risks associated with living next to a Golf Course. We are not talking about errant golf balls. We discover a new LED screen that also emits sound and a new water based flow battery that is designed for home solar systems. Finally we investigate a new set of contact lenses that will allow us to see infrared light.
Move away from the Golf Course
I should be more specific here, if you live near a US Golf Course, move house quickly. You are probably fine in the rest of the world. A study by the Barrow Neurological Institute (Phoenix Arizona) and Mayo Clinic (Minnesota, Florida and Arizona) has reported an association with living near golf courses and increased Parkinson’s disease risk.
Residents that lived within 1 to 2 miles from a US Golf Course demonstrated nearly triple the chance of having Parkinson’s disease verses the rest of the population. The culprit appears to be groundwater contamination. US Golf Courses use 15 times the amount of pesticides than European Golf Courses. I could not find data on the amount of pesticide used in Australian Golf Courses however there is strong regulation around preventing groundwater contamination from pesticides and fertilizers.
The study was based upon a 27 county region in Southern Minnesota and Western Wisconsin from 1991 to 2015. Living one to two miles from a golf course was associated with 198% higher odds of Parkinson’s Disease, two to three miles away had 121% higher odds (i.e. more than double the chance of disease onset). Risk declined by approximately 13% per additional mile beyond 3 miles. Residing in water service areas with a golf course showed 96% higher odds of Parkinson’s Disease regardless of proximity.
The findings along with wider concerns regarding pesticide exposure and its potential impact on neurodegenerative diseases. Monitoring groundwater contamination and taking preventative action is one way to mitigate potential risks. It might be easier to move house.
LED Screens that Emit Sound
A team from Pohang University of Science and Technology in South Korea has developed a pixel based local sound OLED technology. Each pixel on the display can play different sounds allowing the display to function as a multichannel speaker array. The technology was demonstrated on a 13 inch OLED panel similar to those used in laptops.
Screen manufacturers are looking for new ways to bring immersive sound into their products. Audiovisual synchronization accounts for nearly 90% of perceived immersion. These new screens will eliminate the need for sound bars or multi channels speakers. Great for environments where space is at a premium.
The team embedded ultra thin piezoelectric exciters within the OLED display frame. These piezo exciters, arranged similarly to pixels, convert electrical signals into sound vibrations. They are fully compatible with the thin form factors of current OLED screens. Additionally the team developed a way to stop sound from different regions of the display interfering with each other.
The innovation allows for a truly localized sound experience. In a car the driver would hear navigation signals while the passenger listens to music, all from one screen with no need for external speakers. The team hope that the technology will form a key part of the next generation of devices.
Water based Flow Batteries
A team from Monash University in Melbourne has developed a water based battery that has the potential of providing compact, high performance systems for residential use. Flow batteries are normally used in large scale energy systems due to their slow charge speeds. The team has solved the speed problem making it ideal for households.
The team was able to develop a new membrane that improved ion selectivity. Basically the membrane lets through the wanted ions and keeps the unwanted ions out. This allows fast stable operations at high current density.
The balance between safety, low cost and high speed was critical to making the batteries work for rooftop solar systems. The battery is non toxic, non flammable and made from abundant materials all while being able to keep up with the power generated by a solar system on a sunny day. The battery is able to be kept in the garage.
Flow batteries store energy in liquids rather than solid materials. This makes them easier to manufacture, safer to operate and easier to scale. The team is now testing prototypes under real world conditions and expects to have the product on the market within a few years.
Infra Red Vision
We currently need to wear night vision goggles to be able to see infra red light. A team at the University of Science and Technology in Hefei, China have developed a set of contact lenses that will allow humans to see infra red light, even with our eyes closed.
The team infused contact lenses with nano particles that convert near infra red light in the 800 to 1,600 nanometer range into shorter wavelength visible light in the 400 to 700 nanometer range that humans can see. The embedded nanoparticles scatter the light received making the images blurry. This was partially corrected by using the technology in glasses with additional lenses that redirect the light. Night vision goggles amplify the light received, these lenses only currently show intense infrared signals such as those from LEDs.
The lenses were found to work better when subjects had their eyes closed. Infrared light will penetrate the eyelid more effectively than visible light so there is less interference. The team was also able to convert different wavelengths of infrared light into different colors in the eye. This could help color blind people see different wavelengths that they were not otherwise able to detect.
The team is working on increasing the nanoparticles sensitivity so that lower levels of infrared light can be detected. They are also working to improve the spatial resolution and sensitivity of the lenses.
Waymo
We have spoken about self driving cars and how they will change transportation many times in the past. The revolution is taking somewhat longer than I expected however it is still coming. This week Waymo passed 10 million paid self driving rides in the US. They only took 5 months to double the number of rides from 5 million. Momentum is building.
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 comment below.
I would also appreciate it if you could forward this newsletter to anyone that you think might be interested or provide a recommendation on Substack.