From quantum dot televisions to safe germicidal ultraviolet lighting fixtures, IEEE Spectrum's Eliza Strickland sums up "10 Exciting Engineering Milestones to Look for in 2021." Here are two of the more interesting developments on the very near-term horizon:
Winds of Change
Developers of offshore wind power quickly find themselves in deep water off the coast of California; one prospective site near Humboldt Bay ranges from 500 to 1,100 meters deep. These conditions call for a new breed of floating wind turbine that's tethered to the seafloor with strong cables. Now, that technology has been demonstrated in pilot projects off the coasts of Scotland and Portugal, and wind power companies are eager to gain access to three proposed sites off the California coast. They're expecting the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to begin the process of auctioning leases for at least some of those sites in 2021.
Brain Scans Everywhere
Truly high-quality data about brain activity is hard to come by; today, researchers and doctors typically rely either on big and expensive machines like MRI and CT scanners or on invasive implants. In early 2021, the startup Kernel is launching a wearable device called Kernel Flow that could change the game. The affordable low-power device uses a type of near-infrared spectroscopy to measure changes in blood flow within the brain. Within each headset, 52 lasers fire precise pulses, and reflected light is picked up by 312 detectors. Kernel will distribute its first batch of 50 devices to "select partners" in the first quarter of the year, but company founder Bryan Johnson hopes the portable technology will one day be ubiquitous. At a recent event, he described how consumers could eventually use Kernel Flow in their own homes.
image: BOEM.gov
