A new startup is finding a way to grow crops indoors economically in the context of our current supply chain...

Originally shared by Randy Smith

A new startup is finding a way to grow crops indoors economically in the context of our current supply chain infrastructure, and with more tasty and nutritious varieties than are currently available through that infrastructure. Several things are coming together to let them do this, including substantial drops in the cost of LED lights, machine learning for placement of towers and lamps, and vertical planting allowing use of gravity to distribute water rather than pumps. The dense production (much much more produce per ft^2 than farms) allowing them to put production centers very convenient to grocery distribution centers, getting the produce to groceries much faster. That in term allows them to use varietals that are optimized for taste and nutrition instead of shelf stability (and just getting them to stores faster improves the nutrition). And being indoors means that they can minimize pests to the point where they can control them with ladybugs, avoiding pesticides.

I think there are a lot of implications to this, many positive, some disturbing.
+ It sounds like this is riding several technology curves (LED light, machine learning, IoT), so it's only going to get more efficient.
+ It's all technology all the time (the plants roots aren't even in dirt, but a plastic growth medium made from recycled bottles), which may give it an "eww!" factor, but I suspect does produce nutritious, clean plants.
+ As it evolves, this technique could substantially raise the carrying capacity of the planet, which is good because AIUI convention farming with fertilizers depletes the soil and I've been concerned that'll take us to a place where we suddenly have no ability to feed the people on the planet.
+ However, the same result means we'll have less incentive to get a handle on our population growth. (Though simply getting countries through the demographic transition to wealthy societies will help here.)
+ And the same thing gives us much less incentive to take care of the environment.

So: Modified rapture?? :-} :-J

https://www.fastcompany.com/40420610/has-this-silicon-valley-startup-finally-nailed-the-indoor-farming-model
https://www.fastcompany.com/40420610/has-this-silicon-valley-startup-finally-nailed-the-indoor-farming-model

Google, A.I. and the rise of the super-sensor

Originally shared by Mike Elgan

Google, A.I. and the rise of the super-sensor

(Read my column: https://goo.gl/Xz61sO )

Google dazzled developers this week with a new feature called Google Lens.

Appearing first in Google Assistant and Google Photos, Google Lens uses artificial intelligence (A.I.) to specifically identify things in the frame of a smartphone camera.

Google Lens is shiny and fun. But from the resulting media commentary, it was clear that the real implications were generally lost.

The common reaction was: "Oooh, look! Another toy for our smartphones! Isn't A.I. amazing!" In reality, Google showed us a glimpse of the future of general-purpose sensing. Thanks to machine learning, it's now possible to create a million different sensors in software using only one actual sensor -- the camera.

In Google's demo, it's clear that the camera functions as a "super-sensor." Instead of a flower-identification sensor, a bar-code reader and a retail-business identifier, Google Lens is just one all-purpose super-sensor with software-based, A.I.-fueled "virtual sensors" built in software either locally or in the cloud.

And that's not the only super sensor Google is involved with.

This is a new world:

http://www.computerworld.com/article/3197685/internet-of-things/google-a-i-and-the-rise-of-the-super-sensor.html

#supersensor
http://www.computerworld.com/article/3197685/internet-of-things/google-a-i-and-the-rise-of-the-super-sensor.html

Great news!

Originally shared by Al Gore

Great news! Last Saturday, the California grid received a record-breaking 67% of electricity from renewables. http://ow.ly/MNO430bSkt8
http://ow.ly/MNO430bSkt8

A new study has revealed how human activity has been affected the near-space environment, creating a bubble that...

Originally shared by Universe Today

A new study has revealed how human activity has been affected the near-space environment, creating a bubble that protects against space radiation.
http://www.universetoday.com/135590/might-new-way-push-back-space-radiation/

Since our last update, we’ve made a lot of progress testing our 600 kW energy kite.

Originally shared by Makani

Since our last update, we’ve made a lot of progress testing our 600 kW energy kite. Recently, we generated power with the kite for the first time. It’s the culmination of two years of work scaling up each of the kite’s component systems, testing each system individually, and running thousands of hours of flight simulations to predict how our kite would operate in the real world. No matter how many preliminary tests and simulations you run, it’s always exhilarating to bring a new technology out into real world conditions. Check out this video of Makani’s 600 kW energy kite generating electricity for the first time. This was the first of many tests we are doing with our latest prototype to gain a better understanding how the kite interacts with the wind and how our controls handle different wind conditions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An8vtD1FDqs&feature=autoshare

A new book ranks the top 100 solutions to climate change. The results are surprising.

https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/5/10/15589038/top-100-solutions-climate-change-ranked