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Relatedly, anyone know of anybody working on genetically modifying trees to create human-habitats on earth? It’s a fun and crazy concept, but perhaps it’s still
by laser 7y ago
Relatedly, anyone know of anybody working on genetically modifying trees to create human-habitats on earth? It’s a fun and crazy concept, but perhaps it’s still far too technically difficult to approach with current tools.
Imagine planting many acres of genetically-modified trees and coming back in forty years to the primary structures of thousands of beautiful forest homes :P
- maxander 7y agoAs far as I understand it, the mechanisms that trees and other plants use to make themselves plant-shapes wouldn’t generalize to other useful things like houses; e.g., the algorithm is something akin to an L-system [0], and there’s only so much one can do with that. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/L-system https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/L-system
- fouc 7y agoWell you could program a die off of cells, so internals of a tree could possibly be hollowed out with rooms.
- vanderZwan 7y agoWhat if you use multiple trees together? A system of L-systems surely allows for more complexity? EDIT: Might even lead to interesting "composite materials" if you can get different wood types to (semi)fuse together naturally.
- a3n 7y agoA step back from that, you can grow trees into furniture and bridges. So I suppose you could grow trees into the shape of houses, or house frames. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=tree+grown+into+a+chair&t=fpas&ia=web https://duckduckgo.com/?q=tree+grown+into+a+chair&t=fpas&ia=... https://duckduckgo.com/?q=living+tree+bridge&t=fpas&ia=about https://duckduckgo.com/?q=living+tree+bridge&t=fpas&ia=about
- sangnoir 7y agoThe baobab tree[1] is already pretty close - it grows to large circumferences and has hollow trunks. 1. https://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Baobab-Tree-Home/ https://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Baobab-Tree-Home/