In this week’s edition of The Prototype, we look at New Mexico’s plans to build a quantum computing ecosystem, a startup that can take methane and turn it into clean fuel for cheap, shocking your immune system for faster healing and more. To get The Prototype in your inbox, sign up here.
New Mexico is teaming up with the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to invest in quantum computing. Under the terms of the agreement, each will provide up to $60 million over the next four years to build quantum computers that can solve problems that are out of reach for conventional processors. While that’s tiny compared to the mountains of cash going into AI, it’s big for the emerging technology, which saw less than $2 billion in government support globally last year.
This is part of a larger effort to turn the state into a quantum computing hub. Last month, New Mexico and Roadrunner Venture Studios started a $25 million venture studio to build infrastructure–such as a quantum network, lab testbeds and prototype facility–to attract quantum startups to a campus being built in Albuquerque. New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham told me the state is throwing its weight behind quantum computing because of its promise to revolutionize sectors such as renewable energy and healthcare. She also noted that the presence of two federal national labs gives New Mexico “more PhDs per capita than any other state,” providing a strong talent pool for the nascent sector.
“It’s going to require a lot of scientific effort,” she said. “But we’re willing to create that business ecosystem.”
This Startup Makes Clean Fuel With Repurposed Car Engines
Methanol fuels a wide range of vehicles, from race cars to large ships. It’s attractive because it produces no soot or other particulates and emits far less carbon dioxide than gasoline. But the conventional way to make it is anything but clean–producing significant carbon emissions and other pollutants.
Emmanuel Kasseris aims to fix this. His company, Emvolon, repurposes diesel engines to break down methane–a potent greenhouse gas– into carbon monoxide and hydrogen, which are then turned into methanol. The entire process takes place in a modular facility that can fit inside a shipping container and costs less than $10 million to build.
That small footprint means that Emvolon can scale quickly, Kasseris told me, by siting its machines near landfills, industrial sites, farms or other places that emit large amounts of methane. The company’s Woburn, MA headquarters is home to a pilot plant that produces 6 barrels of methanol a day.
This week, Emvolon announced a collaboration with commodities merchant Freepoint to accelerate the production and distribution of methanol. That follows the launch of a joint venture between the startup and energy company Montauk Renewables in August to develop multiple manufacturing sites, starting with a project in Texas.
Emvolon’s ability to turn waste into a sellable commodity offers what Kasseris called “pragmatic sustainability,” which is valuable in an era where there’s less government support for green technology. “The future shouldn’t start with a pie in the sky vision of doing everything green,” he said. “But something that can be done locally, with local resources, that makes profits.”
DISCOVERY OF THE WEEK: ELECTRICITY MIGHT SPEED HEALING
Researchers at Trinity College Dublin have found a potential new way to heal wounds faster: electricity. In a new paper published this week, the scientists describe the effects of electrical stimulation on macrophage, a type of white blood cell that works with the immune system. In a wound made on tissues in the lab, they found that stimulating macrophages led to faster healing with less inflammation. The next step, the authors wrote, is to validate these results in animals.
WHAT ELSE I WROTE THIS WEEK
In my other newsletter, InnovationRx, Amy Feldman and I looked at leadership departures and vaccine policy changes at the CDC, why pharma company Alnylam is moving forward on a drug despite disappointing clinical trial results, a startup using AI to predict heart failure risk and more.
SCIENCE AND TECH TIDBITS
Space startup Interlune is developing tech to mine the Moon for Helium-3, a rare isotope that’s used for security scanners, medical imaging and quantum computers.
Alphabet subsidiary Waymo already has a huge lead in the self-driving car market. But if it pushed even harder, its revenues could rival its sister company Google’s.
Amazon’s Project Kuiper, a rival to SpaceX’s satellite internet service Starlink, published a video showing its 100+ satellite network has gigabit speeds, about 3-4x faster than Starlink.
The Trump Administration’s freeze on $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard are unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled this week. Most of that money is allocated to research.
PRO SCIENCE TIP: GOT BACK PAIN? GO FOR A WALK
Plagued by lower back pain? The best thing for you might be to go for a walk, according to a new paper. Over the course of two years, researchers followed a group of more than 11,000 adults. They found that those who walked over 100 minutes a day (measured with a wearable) had a 23% lower risk of chronic lower back pain. The study also found that the time spent walking mattered more for reducing pain than how quickly people walked.
WHAT’S ENTERTAINING ME THIS WEEK
I just finished watching the first season of Netflix’s series Dept. Q, a procedural about an investigation into the disappearance of a prosecutor. The case has a number of effectively executed twists and turns that I won’t spoil here, but where the show really shines is the character work among an incredibly talented group of actors, especially Matthew Goode in the lead role of Carl Morck and Alexej Manvelov as his sidekick, the polite and utterly terrifying badass Akram Salim.