Lifeboat Foundation

TEPIC, Mexico (Thomson Reuters Foundation) — Tequila, avocado and corn are proving their worth beyond Mexican fiesta staples as key components for a fast-growing bioplastics market, with companies transforming waste from processing food crops into products such as bags, plates and even car parts.

Bioplastics make up less than 5 percent of the millions of tonnes of plastic produced each year around the world.

But as governments and consumers fret about the damage plastic is doing to the world’s oceans, scientists are experimenting by converting materials from cactus to shrimp shells and human waste into alternative greener plastics.

Spaceport America, the world’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport standing on the sands of the New Mexico desert, is readying itself to welcome the world’s first space tourists.

And Virgin Galactic will likely be the first to fly these people into outer space. The cost of a seat on a Virgin Galactic spaceflight is $250,000 and 600 people have already paid downpayments for their trips.

Virgin Galactic on Thursday declared Spaceport America “operationally functional” and transferred all its spaceflight operations to this facility. It also revealed the interior of its “Gateway to Space” building at the spaceport.

A biocompatible and battery-less pill can noninvasively and accurately sample gut microbiome as it passes through the gastrointestinal tract.

The Phoenix Earthship is a self-sustaining microclimate that features a fish pond, jungle, turtles, birds, a chicken coop and off-grid lodgings. See more.

Iron Ox has just opened its first fully automated farm in San Carlos, California. The company claims that their hydroponic system can produce 30 times the yield per acre of land comparing to traditional farms, while using 90% less water.

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Continue reading “This Hydroponic Farm Is Run Entirely By Robots” »

Another Vertical Garden post from Amber. Read more about this topic on Garden Culture Magazine.

Department of medical physics, ahvaz jundishapur university of medical sciences, ahvaz, iran.

Faculty of medicine, Department of Anatomical Sciences, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran.

This is Growing Underground, it’s an underground farm founded in 2012 by Richard Ballard and Steven Dring.

The farm sits inside a WWII bomb shelter. Eight of these shelters were built across London during the war, and they were each built to house around 8,000 people.

Continue reading “Underground Farm Produces 2 Tons Of Food A Month” »

A hi-tech hydroponic farm is producing fresh, leafy greens right in the heart of London, 100 feet below ground.