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Tag: agriculture

Continental score

Image analysis can find hidden ruins or save elephants’ lives. But that’s just the start. A female-led startup in Nairobi is using satellite images and artificial intelligence to strengthen the continent’s agriculture industry. After all, around 60% of sub-saharan Africa’s jobs are dependent on it - most of them smallholders significantly impacted by climate change. The machine-based image analysis...

Sweet saturation

Protein-rich gorse could feed the whole of Scotland. Fish and chips is not just popular in the UK, of course. Still, manufacturing vegetable oil from oil palms or soya beans is accelerating the deforestation of rainforests. Which explains why a California-based startup has developed an alternative cooking oil from sugarcane. Raw sugar from the regrowing plant ferments in tanks...

Charging connection

Wood waste can help remove microplastics from water. Glyphosate, a widely-used and hazardous herbicide, is increasingly present in water, too. Now, a research team from Brazil, where over 170 tonnes of these pesticides are used annually, is on the lookout for a sustainable removal. Waste from sugar production, it seems, might just hold the key. First the team shredded...

Virtual yield

Thanks to a US startup, unused front lawns are feeding the local community. Traditionally, those who want to grow their own vegetables have to plant and tend them themselves. But now an Austrian startup is offering the chance to do everything by app. Using information on ripening season or longevity, virtual gardeners can choose herbs and vegetables that a...

Protective use

Agave waste from tequila production can be turned into cutlery. Once the gel from aloe vera plants has been made into moisturising lotion or cream for medical complaints, however, the rest often goes unused. Until now. It all began when a Texas-based research team noticed there were no pests near aloe vera farms. Intrigued, they began looking into the...

Passing exchange

Human urine could help build astronauts’ sleeping quarters on the moon, or supply fertiliser for farming. Cattle, however, are a major contributor to greenhouse gases by passing methane front and back. According to a study by a Washington State University research team, help might come from an unlikely source: the faeces of baby kangaroos. For, in contrast to their...

Arranged reduction

A natural film keeps food fresh for longer and reduces waste. Now, a startup from San Francisco has developed a private home service-system which converts food waste into nutrient-rich chicken feed. Using an electrically-operated steel container with a charcoal odour filter, kitchen scraps are dried overnight. Once the bin is full after a few weeks, users decant it into...

Mature combination

Making egg and meat substitutes means having the right ingredients in the right combination. Which is why an Israeli firm’s latest platform uses artificial intelligence to determine how natural plants can be interbred to create new food products. Taking into account food producers' requests concerning nutritional value, texture and taste, along with cultivation circumstances, the system combs a database...

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