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Food. The food production is not keeping up with the boom in population, specially in the developing nations. In India, where I come from, farmers are running

Food. The food production is not keeping up with the boom in population, specially in the developing nations. In India, where I come from, farmers are running away from Farming. (Because it's not profitable enough to even feed a family and pay for school fees). We desperately need ways to increase the food production, without increasing the land or water usage. A way of doing it can genetic engineering (Supercharged Photosyntesis?), but even this solution looks like a distant reality. May be not enough people are working on it or there is a lack of funding here... Food is the most basic requirement for survival for any life form. Fund this research... YC will be eternally blessed! :D

thangalin 11y ago
Yes. Vertically plane production within vertical farms, low-watt high-luminance light-emitting plasma bulbs, full-spectrum plant health monitoring systems, fully automated growth (from seed to crop) and harvesting, highly-efficient HVAC systems for cooling and CO2 regulation, aeroponically grown foodstuffs, and electric self-driving delivery vehicles. A six-storey, 64m^2 (approx. 1 acre) vertical farm can sustain 1,000 people using ~1,500 kilowatts (assuming certain inevitable leaps in lighting efficiency). Or approximately 1,200 homes. New Jersey has a population density of 1218.1 people per square mile. A $2.7 million geothermal power plant would provide sufficient energy for the farm's annual lighting, to give an idea of costs. That power would not be enough to provide the energy for automation or recharging delivery vehicles. Plants don't absorb much of the green spectrum. If they could be biohacked to use more of the spectrum, the energy requirements could be cut substantially. (Another option is to dramatically improve either laser light or plasma light in the optimal spectrum for a particular crop.) Additionally, a lot more research needs to be made in finding out how to grow food aeroponically. Currently, I think it's limited to tomatoes, greens, and possibly some tubers. To introduce minerals into the aeroponic water supply (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Calcium, Sulfur, Magnesium, Boron, Chlorine, Manganese, Iron, Zinc, Copper, and Molybdenum) requires fish (salmon, catfish, tuna), seawater, crustaceans (crab, lobster), shellfish, fungi, seaweed, and captured elements from an open-loop geothermal plant. Nickel might have to be mined. Ammonia can be coaxed from air, water, and sunlight. It should be possible to grow, harvest, and deliver food based completely on renewable energies. Furthermore, certain food crops (cotton [dual-carbon batteries], moss, corn, small citrus fruits) can be used to remake infrastructure components. Like a newt that eats its own tail to grow a new one. Moss and corn waste, I believe, can make carbon fiber or stretched carbon nanotubes. Small citrus fruits, if I recall, can be used as a completely organic (cradle-to-grave) polymer substitute. </soapbox>

thangalin 11y ago

Yes. Vertically plane production within vertical farms, low-watt high-luminance light-emitting plasma bulbs, full-spectrum plant health monitoring systems, fully automated growth (from seed to crop) and harvesting, highly-efficient HVAC systems for cooling and CO2 regulation, aeroponically grown foodstuffs, and electric self-driving delivery vehicles. A six-storey, 64m^2 (approx. 1 acre) vertical farm can sustain 1,000 people using ~1,500 kilowatts (assuming certain inevitable leaps in lighting efficiency). Or approximately 1,200 homes. New Jersey has a population density of 1218.1 people per square mile. A $2.7 million geothermal power plant would provide sufficient energy for the farm's annual lighting, to give an idea of costs. That power would not be enough to provide the energy for automation or recharging delivery vehicles. Plants don't absorb much of the green spectrum. If they could be biohacked to use more of the spectrum, the energy requirements could be cut substantially. (Another option is to dramatically improve either laser light or plasma light in the optimal spectrum for a particular crop.) Additionally, a lot more research needs to be made in finding out how to grow food aeroponically. Currently, I think it's limited to tomatoes, greens, and possibly some tubers. To introduce minerals into the aeroponic water supply (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Calcium, Sulfur, Magnesium, Boron, Chlorine, Manganese, Iron, Zinc, Copper, and Molybdenum) requires fish (salmon, catfish, tuna), seawater, crustaceans (crab, lobster), shellfish, fungi, seaweed, and captured elements from an open-loop geothermal plant. Nickel might have to be mined. Ammonia can be coaxed from air, water, and sunlight. It should be possible to grow, harvest, and deliver food based completely on renewable energies. Furthermore, certain food crops (cotton [dual-carbon batteries], moss, corn, small citrus fruits) can be used to remake infrastructure components. Like a newt that eats its own tail to grow a new one. Moss and corn waste, I believe, can make carbon fiber or stretched carbon nanotubes. Small citrus fruits, if I recall, can be used as a completely organic (cradle-to-grave) polymer substitute. </soapbox>