Underwater Greenhouses, Cooling Computer Processors and making Vodka from CO2.

May 26

This week we dive deep and look at an Underwater Greenhouse that will grow plants normally grown on land. We investigate Mastercard’s new payment system and we examine a new method for cooling computer processors. Finally we explore a new way of solving Global Warming by drinking vodka. Make sure that you do your bit for the planet by imbibing.

Underwater Greenhouse

Californian startup, Nemo’sGarden has developed an underwater farm to grow terrestrial plants in pods under the sea.

Agriculture currently accounts for 70% of freshwater use globally. Water management in many regions of the world is critical for survival. Rainfall is insufficient or highly variable in many regions. This is causing us to draw water from aquifers and other underground water systems at an unsustainable rate.

The underwater farm is composed of 6 air-filled clear plastic pods, anchored to the bottom of the sea by chains. The acrylic structures float at different depths between 15 and 36 feet below the surface. Inside the biospheres water condenses on the inner walls dripping back down to keep the plants watered. The warm, near constant sea temperature between day and night creates ideal growing conditions.

At the center of the pods a 12 feet tall, 10 feet wide metal structure (which weighs approximately half a ton) contains all the cables that run into each structure. The structure contains all the equipment required to monitor and control the biosphere from the shore including the ability to control the light levels. Sensors for CO2, O2, humidity, air temperature and illumination constantly provide feedback. A control tower on the shore monitors everything to provide optimal growing conditions.

The greenhouses are mostly hydroponic based. A nutrient rich solution of minerals and water is delivered to the roots of the plants. An external source of water is only needed for the initial planting. The environments are pest free removing the need for pesticides. To date 90 different plant species have been grown in the pods.

Biospheres have already been established in Belgium, Florida and Italy. This type of agriculture will increase the amount of the earth’s surface available to agriculture particularly in locations where the land environment is unsuitable for crops. The cost will never be comparable to broad acre farming however it may reduce the reliance on imports for some parts of the world.

Paying with your Hand

We have spoken previously about the Amazon’s efforts to introduce payment systems that recognize your hand print when you check out of their new self service Amazon Go stores. China also uses extensive facial recognition and hand recognition systems for payment however these systems have not yet penetrated the general retail market in other countries. Till now that is.

Mastercard is piloting their new technology that will let you make payments with your hand or face. The program is now live in 5 stores in Sao Paulo, Brazil and it will be rolled out Globally later this year.

The system will let you authenticate your payment by showing your face or the palm of your hand instead of having to swipe your card. You will have to sign up with Mastercard, take a picture of your face or scan your hand print with a smartphone app. You can then add a credit card which will be linked to your biometric data.

Your face or handprint scan is not directly stored. A token with a random string of alphanumeric characters is created from your face or handprint scan and stored. When you pay the system will then check your face or hand against that stored token.

The first question that springs to my mind is will identical twins be able to spend each other’s money?

Computer Cooling

One of the problems with faster and faster computer processors is that they tend to heat up the faster they work. This is dangerous for the device and sometimes the user.

Researchers at University of California Berkley have developed a way to more efficiently cool computer processors and enable 740% more power usage for the same heat output. More electrical power allows for more powerful processors.

Current systems use heat spreaders to dissipate the heat generated by the processors in a computer. Diamond heat spreaders are more effective but very expensive. Secondly conventional heat spreaders and heat sinks are placed on top of the device. In many cases the heat is generated underneath the device meaning less effective cooling. Finally heat spreaders can not be installed directly on the surface of the electronics. A thermal interface layer of material is required and these layers have poor heat transfer characteristics.

The team used copper to entirely engulf the electronics covering all surfaces. No heat producing regions were left unprotected. A thin conformal polymer coating is inserted between the copper layer and the electronics. Polymers are a good electrical insulator which minimizes the leaking of current from the electronics to the copper coating. The high thermal conductivity of the copper coating removed the need for the heat sink and thermal interface.

Turning CO2 into Vodka

There are many ways to fight global warming and I know a few people that will relish the opportunity to rid the world of excess CO2 via drinking it away. Brooklyn, New York based startup, Air Company has developed a way to turn waste CO2 into a range of products including Vodka, perfume and hand sanitizer.

Air Company first uses electrolysis to separate hydrogen and oxygen from water which is then turned into ethanol using a carbon conversion reactor. The reactor uses waste CO2. Once produced, the ethanol is refined into a drinkable spirit. Retailing for US$65 per bottle the vodka is on the pricey side however you are drinking something for the good of the planet. I am sure that there will be volunteers willing to do their part.

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.

Till next week.