What do you get when you mix technology and food? Why, cool futuristic gadgets like the ones below of course!
Guess what’s in the pictures above. Go ahead, I dare you. Give up? The first picture is of a Self Contained Biosphere (from Philips) while the second one is ‘le petit prince’, a miniature greenhouse for - get this - Mars.
Biosphere:
This Philips non-spherical-biosphere is a self-contained farm that produces hundreds of calories of various food sources a day. Its five-level design breaks down like this:
Levels 1 and 2: Plants
Level 3: Algae
Level 4: Fish and Shrimp
Level 5: Organic Waste
Level 3: Algae
Level 4: Fish and Shrimp
Level 5: Organic Waste
The system is designed to cascade nutrients from the top to the bottom (back to the top). Optical fibers capture and redirect light to the plants during the day, while methane capture from organic waste can power lights at night. The algae create oxygen for the fish. Cool or what?!
Le Petit Prince:
We all know that high solar radiation on Mars means even plants would have a difficult time growing. So how do we solve that problem? Use robots! This concept robot was designed so it could walk around the Red Planet looking for optimal condition for growth. After it has mastered the surroundings, it could share growing tips with a whole swarm of plant growing bots. Aside: these are definitely some of the best looking bots I have ever seen! Below is a video of the lil’ guy in action.
So, do you like the future?