比尔盖茨和钢铁侠男主角投资高科技电动马达初创企业

据俄罗斯卫星通讯社2021年3月5日莫斯科报道，微软公司(Microsoft)创始人比尔· 盖茨、《钢铁侠》男主角小罗伯特·唐尼(Robert Downey Jr.)、亚马逊气候承诺基金(Amazon Climate Pledge Fund)以及iPhone的联合创始人托尼·法德尔(Tony Fadell)日前都投资了总部位于加州的高科技电动马达初创公司Turntide科技公司。因此，Turntide科技公司成功筹集了8000万美元的资金。

Turntide科技公司已经将一种新型的电动马达商业化，这种马达可以使马达内部的磁铁每秒转动2万次，这一过程可以减少30%的电力消耗。

Turntide科技公司首席执行官瑞安·莫里斯说，这款发动机的设计可以追溯到1838年，但要想有效地运行它，必须等到廉价的电脑芯片问世。

莫里斯还将该产品描述为“包在金属里的软件”，这使该公司能够控制运行电机所需的知识产权，但将制造外包到海外。

好莱坞明星小罗伯特·唐尼在一次采访中说，“他们想出了如何利用19世纪的技术，用软件让它做它一直有潜力做的事情。”

Turntide科技公司目前专注于更换大型建筑通风系统中的旧电机——它在2020年已经更换了5000个这样的电机，并计划在今年总共更换5万个。

提高电机的效率可以减少温室气体的排放——盖茨说气候变化是人类面临的主要威胁之一。

盖茨最近警告说：“每年温室气体排放导致的死亡人数甚至会超过这次新冠肺炎疫情大流行。”

李峻 编译自 俄罗斯卫星通讯社

原文如下：

Bill Gates and Iron Man actor invest in hi-tech electric motor startup

Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr., the Amazon Climate Pledge Fund, and co-creator of the iPhone Tony Fadell have all invested in California-based startup Turntide Technologies Inc. The company has managed to raise $80 million of funding as a result.

Turntide has commercialised a new type of electric motor, which can turn magnets inside the motor on and off 20,000 times a second – this process reduces electricity consumption by up to 30 percent.

According to Turntide Chief Executive Officer Ryan Morris, the motor's design dates back to 1838 but the fine control needed to run it efficiently had to wait until cheap computer chips were available.

He has also described the product as “software wrapped in metal,” which allows the company to control the intellectual property needed to run the motor, but outsource the manufacturing overseas.

“They figured out how to use a 19th-century technology and use software to make it do what it always had the potential to do,” Hollywood star Robert Downey Jr. said in an interview.

Turntide is currently focused on replacing old electric motors in ventilation systems in large buildings – it has replaced 5,000 of these motors in 2020 and aims to do 50,000 in total this year.

Making electrical motors more efficient reduces greenhouse gas emissions – Gates has said climate change is one of the main threats to humanity.

“Every year that would be a death toll even greater than we had in this pandemic,” Gates recently warned.