7 ms·

Hopefully this is not the beginning of another science-fiction plot turning reality. From what I can tell we are quite a few years away from the technology of '

Hopefully this is not the beginning of another science-fiction plot turning reality. From what I can tell we are quite a few years away from the technology of 'Interstellar'

syntheticnature 10y ago
Given that plague's... unusual biochemistry (lives off Nitrogen instead of Oxygen how?) I'm less worried about that than us merely running 5 years behind on Car Wars' timeline: https://sites.google.com/site/arpscarwars/Home/car-wars-time-line https://sites.google.com/site/arpscarwars/Home/car-wars-time...
- pizza 10y ago
  related is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eutrophication https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eutrophication although I think it makes some sense to see the blight as representative of a reversal of humanity's changing relationship to nitrogen in the 20th century via the Haber process - bomb-enabling and fertilizer-propagation coming full-circle as being used by a plague that takes human life via nitrogen again.
rubber_duck 10y ago
If we had interstellar level of tech we could synthesize aminos, carbs and fats more efficiently than we can with agriculture. We could probably do it right now with processing simple organisms like algae or what not if push came to shove - with enough R&D $ spent, but all forms of agriculture get subsidized enough that it doesn't even let alternative competition come up. I'm not saying agricultural disasters can't have very negative impacts on society (especially less developed countries that have to bid for same food as developed countries on global market) but such sci-fi plots are rather unconvincing.
- RobertoG 10y ago
  To be fair to the screenwriters: If I don't remember wrong, in Interstellar, they don't have interstellar level of technology, they just find the tech.
krona 10y ago
It's a similar situation with the Xylella fastidiosa bacterium. Even if the technology did exist, it would be banned in ~50% of the EU under GMO and 'new food' legislation.
- tornadoboy55 10y ago
  Better than the US standard of letting untested genes or chemicals loose on the population and testing/regulating only when a problem starts popping up, no?
  - krona 10y ago
    It depends. For instance, the precautionary principle in the EU has, in the case of declining bee populations, manifested itself in banning things even when the scientific studies have shown that the pesticides in question are almost certainly not the problem. How many scientific studies does it take to convince a politician?
    - whyenot 10y ago
      When the crop is wind pollinated as is the case with wheat and other grasses, AND when there are closely related weeds and other plants nearby, a little caution seems like a good thing. As far as neonicotinamides, they are a very useful group of pesticides. Safe for applicators, effective, long lasting. I use them quite often to control pests in the university greenhouses I manage. I think the jury is still out on their role in bee colony collapses. Even if they are not implicated, there is a lot of evidence that they do kill insect pollinators
    - RobertoG 10y ago
      Another, more cynic, way to see it is, you can choose one of two possibilities: -You can have politicians that try to appeal ill-informed general population motivated by fear. We would call this, the European way. -You can have politicians that try to appeal well informed lobbyist motivated by greed. We will call this the American Way. Or, the even more cynical, and probably more realistic option, you can have both: politicians that try to eat their cake and have it too.
intrasight 10y ago
A good sci-fi adaptation of this is T"he Windup Girl" by Paolo Bacigalupi

Hopefully this is not the beginning of another science-fiction plot turning reality. From what I can tell we are quite a few years away from the technology of 'Interstellar'

syntheticnature 10y ago

Given that plague's... unusual biochemistry (lives off Nitrogen instead of Oxygen how?) I'm less worried about that than us merely running 5 years behind on Car Wars' timeline: https://sites.google.com/site/arpscarwars/Home/car-wars-time-line https://sites.google.com/site/arpscarwars/Home/car-wars-time...

pizza 10y ago
related is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eutrophication https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eutrophication although I think it makes some sense to see the blight as representative of a reversal of humanity's changing relationship to nitrogen in the 20th century via the Haber process - bomb-enabling and fertilizer-propagation coming full-circle as being used by a plague that takes human life via nitrogen again.

rubber_duck 10y ago

If we had interstellar level of tech we could synthesize aminos, carbs and fats more efficiently than we can with agriculture. We could probably do it right now with processing simple organisms like algae or what not if push came to shove - with enough R&D $ spent, but all forms of agriculture get subsidized enough that it doesn't even let alternative competition come up. I'm not saying agricultural disasters can't have very negative impacts on society (especially less developed countries that have to bid for same food as developed countries on global market) but such sci-fi plots are rather unconvincing.

RobertoG 10y ago
To be fair to the screenwriters: If I don't remember wrong, in Interstellar, they don't have interstellar level of technology, they just find the tech.

krona 10y ago

It's a similar situation with the Xylella fastidiosa bacterium. Even if the technology did exist, it would be banned in ~50% of the EU under GMO and 'new food' legislation.

tornadoboy55 10y ago
Better than the US standard of letting untested genes or chemicals loose on the population and testing/regulating only when a problem starts popping up, no?
- krona 10y ago
  It depends. For instance, the precautionary principle in the EU has, in the case of declining bee populations, manifested itself in banning things even when the scientific studies have shown that the pesticides in question are almost certainly not the problem. How many scientific studies does it take to convince a politician?
  - whyenot 10y ago
    When the crop is wind pollinated as is the case with wheat and other grasses, AND when there are closely related weeds and other plants nearby, a little caution seems like a good thing. As far as neonicotinamides, they are a very useful group of pesticides. Safe for applicators, effective, long lasting. I use them quite often to control pests in the university greenhouses I manage. I think the jury is still out on their role in bee colony collapses. Even if they are not implicated, there is a lot of evidence that they do kill insect pollinators
  - RobertoG 10y ago
    Another, more cynic, way to see it is, you can choose one of two possibilities: -You can have politicians that try to appeal ill-informed general population motivated by fear. We would call this, the European way. -You can have politicians that try to appeal well informed lobbyist motivated by greed. We will call this the American Way. Or, the even more cynical, and probably more realistic option, you can have both: politicians that try to eat their cake and have it too.

intrasight 10y ago

A good sci-fi adaptation of this is T"he Windup Girl" by Paolo Bacigalupi