Nature has provided humans with over 300,000 species we can eat. Today, we get the majority of our calories from just a dozen plants. This monoculture approach to agriculture suffers from issues like the threat of a major collapse of food systems in case of the rise of a disease targeting one of these few species. But that is a theoretical threat. The unavoidable question is whether these few plants can feed the expanding population on the … [Read more...]
What Do You Think To The Prospect Of Eating Insects?
By 2050, the UN expects that there will be almost 10 billion people on the Earth. This poses some serious practical questions, not least among which is how we'll put food into 2.5 billion or so extra tummies (especially given that we don't adequately fill all of the 7-plus billion we already have). If you're yet to hear alarming phrases like "food security" and "sustainable intensification" you've probably been living under a rock. Which is apt, … [Read more...]
Crops Can Be Made Self-Fertilizing With Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria, Making Artificial Fertilizer Unnecessary
A second Green Revolution? Nitrogen fixation is the process by which nitrogen is converted to ammonia, a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen that is necessary for plants to grow. Problem is, only a few plants like legumes (peas, beans, lentils) can fix nitrogen from the atmosphere with the help of symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria. The vast majority of plants have to get their nitrogen from the soil, and there's not enough of it everywhere. That's … [Read more...]
Black Magic House Built Quicker Than You Can Say “Abracadabra”
Located on the edge of a forest near Budapest, the prefabricated Black Magic House by T2.a Architects is, as its name suggests, both black and a house. The "magic" part? The home's basic structure was built in just two days, and the entire process – from sending off the digital plans to receiving the prefab parts and completing the structure – took only a week. Black Magic House is constructed from inexpensive building materials, in this case … [Read more...]
Quote of the Day: 8/13/13 – H.G. Wells
"We do not want dictators, we do not want oligarchic parties or class rule, we want a widespread world intelligence conscious of itself. To work out a way to that world brain organization is therefore our primary need in this age of imperative construction." - H.G. Wells … [Read more...]
Cactus Needles Inspire New Method Of Cleaning Oil From Water
Tiny spikes of copper, inspired by cactus thorns, have the ability to remove micro-droplets of oil in water, according to Chinese researchers, and could lead to more effective cleanups of oil spills. The researchers, who noted that the cone-shaped spines of cactus can harvest water from the air and move it to their base due to surface tension and the shape of the spines, emulated that natural design function in a new development using artificial … [Read more...]
Quote of the Day: 8/9/13 – Maria Mitchell
"The world of learning is so broad, and the human soul is so limited in power! We reach forth and strain every nerve, but we seize only a bit of the curtain that hides the infinite from us." - Maria Mitchell … [Read more...]
Food For Thought…
Metabolix Engineers Plants To Make Cheaper, Cleaner Bioplastic
Petroleum-based plastic may be fantastic, but due to the durability that makes the material so popular it may take hundreds of years to break down. Plastic made from renewable biomass, known as bioplastic, is a biodegradable alternative to fossil fuel versions. A company called Metabolix, based in Cambridge (MA), has been working on a technology to genetically engineer plants such as switchgrass to create a biodegradable polymer that can be … [Read more...]
New technique for turning sunshine and water into hydrogen fuel
A new technique developed by a University of Colorado Boulder team converts sunshine and water directly into usable fuel. The technique involves concentrating sunlight in a solar tower to achieve temperatures high enough to drive chemical reactions that split water into its constituent oxygen and hydrogen molecules. In this way, the team says it should be able to cheaply produce massive amounts of hydrogen fuel. The team's solar thermal system … [Read more...]
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