Via Sarah Rios.

Originally shared by Ward Plunet

Local Roots: Farm-in-a-box coming to a distribution center near you

Eric and Matt could not be more earnest in their quest to feed the world. These two fresh-faced LA boys founded Local Roots four years ago. Their first purchases were broken-down, 40-foot shipping containers—this is apparently easy to do, since it is cheaper for shipping companies to just churn out new ones rather than fix broken ones. Local Roots then upcycles them into modular, shippable, customizable farms, each of which can grow as much produce as five acres of farmland. The idea is to supplement, not supplant, outdoor agriculture. And Ars got a look at one of these “farms” when it was set up in New York City recently. Every aspect of the TerraFarm, as the repurposed shipping containers have been dubbed, has been designed and optimized. The gently pulsing LED lights are purplish—apparently, that’s what lettuce likes—and the solution in which the plants are grown is clean and clear. The “farm” is bright and vibrant, and it smells great in there. This environment came about because Local Roots consulted a lot of experts. It employs horticulturalists, mechanical, electrical, and environmental engineers, software and AI developers, and data and nutrition scientists. The company does this to ensure that the growing conditions and produce are always optimal—both for the plants’ growth and their nutritional content.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/12/local-roots-farm-in-a-box-coming-to-a-distribution-center-near-you/

This is the kind of thing that tends to turn up in stories about forest elves. But you could take a biotech approach, too – programmable furniture trees in a world where people take their time.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/forest-furniture-england-midlands-tree-shaping-chairs-tables

You could easily build an anthology just off the story possibilities in this article.

What’s the status of biotech, and specifically genetech, in your near-future setting? Better think about it if you want to stay current.

Originally shared by Singularity Hub

The Enormous Promise and Peril of Bioengineering’s Pandora’s Box http://suhub.co/2BiArmh

Another benefit of autonomous, or even semi-autonomous, cars: traffic could flow twice as fast.

Originally shared by Jennifer Ouellette

Math Says You’re Driving Wrong and It’s Slowing Us All Down https://www.wired.com/story/math-says-youre-driving-wrong-and-its-slowing-us-all-down/

https://www.wired.com/story/math-says-youre-driving-wrong-and-its-slowing-us-all-down/

Qualified hope. I look forward to other strategies – perhaps using biomimicry to design small scavenger drones which will collect toxic plastic and remove it from the environment.

Originally shared by Singularity Hub

The Massive Project to Clean Up the Ocean With a Two-Kilometer Screen http://suhub.co/2CjqFA7

“Explains” is much too yang a word for what she’s doing here. It’s more “suggests”.

I happen to be interested in utopias where natural balance, not powerful authority, is what keeps things working, though history shows us that’s hard to achieve (to say the least).

Via the Adafruit blog.

https://electricliterature.com/ursula-k-le-guin-explains-how-to-build-a-new-kind-of-utopia-15c7b07e95fc

When the usually-utopian Singularity Hub sounds a note of caution, it’s smart to pay attention.

As this article points out, it’s all too easy to be caught up in the technical possibilities of a technology and ignore history and on-the-ground realities that may make it less useful, or not useful at all – at least, for the purpose claimed. I can see a possible place for bulk freight hyperloops replacing some trucking with more efficient transport – but, again, political distortions already favour trucking over more efficient rail.

Originally shared by Singularity Hub

History Suggests the Hyperloop Is an Uncertain Promise for Future Cities http://suhub.co/2AHwkl8