The face of agriculture is changing, not with the turn of a tractor’s wheel or the swing of a scythe, but with the buzz of drone propellers slicing through the air. What was once the domain of pastoral scenes, with farmers meticulously tending to their fields, has now entered an era of technological revolution where agricultural drones are the vanguards. No longer relegated to the realms of military surveillance or recreational photography, drones are rapidly becoming indispensable tools in modern farming.

Gone are the days when agriculture was merely a labor-intensive, time-consuming endeavor. Today, drones offer a blend of efficiency and precision that has the potential to transform agricultural practices at their core. From assessing soil quality and crop health to monitoring livestock and deploying targeted fertilizers or pesticides, agricultural drones are doing it all, in less time and with greater accuracy than traditional methods.

But this technology doesn’t just offer a more efficient way to do the same old things; it brings with it the promise of entirely new approaches to farming. Picture drones using thermal imaging to detect irrigation issues or deploying lasers to manage weeds and pests in an eco-friendly and effective way. Imagine the advent of ‘smart farming’—an interconnected ecosystem where drones, artificial intelligence, and data analytics work in harmony to maximize yields, optimize resource use, and even tackle pressing issues like environmental conservation and food security.

As we stand on the brink of this remarkable transformation, it’s crucial to delve into the multifaceted applications, the evolving technology, and the regulatory landscape that frames the use of agricultural drones. Understanding these aspects is key not only for farmers and agribusinesses looking to adapt but also for policymakers, researchers, and consumers who will all be affected by this agricultural metamorphosis.

Agricultural Drones: From Pest Control to Child Safety

As technology advances, these flying robots are being programmed for more direct roles in the field, including tasks ranging from weed management to livestock herding and even ensuring the safety of children. Here’s a detailed look at the evolving functionalities of drones in modern agriculture and rural living.

Laser Weed Control

One of the most groundbreaking applications is the use of laser technology to control weeds. Traditional weed control often involves chemical herbicides that can harm non-target plants and seep into the water supply. Drones equipped with advanced cameras and laser systems can identify weeds using machine learning algorithms and then precisely target them with lasers to kill or inhibit their growth. This approach offers a more sustainable and accurate method for weed management, reducing the dependency on chemicals.

Livestock Herding and Tracking

Drones are being used to fill the role of traditional sheepdogs or cattle dogs but with a high-tech twist. These drones can use GPS and AI algorithms to guide herds to specific locations for grazing or shelter. Their ability to quickly cover large areas makes them incredibly useful for tracking strays. A rancher can monitor real-time video feeds from a drone to locate and recover a stray animal, thereby reducing the loss of livestock.

Predator and Pest Deterrence

Besides herding, drones equipped with lasers can act as a deterrent to predators such as wolves or coyotes. A drone can identify the eye shine of a predator at night and direct a non-lethal laser beam to temporarily blind or startle the animal, scaring it away from livestock. This humane method of deterrence safeguards the livestock while avoiding unnecessary harm to local wildlife.

Snake Elimination

Drones can offer a solution in regions where venomous snakes are a significant concern. Equipped with heat-seeking technology, drones can spot snakes hiding in tall grass or other hard-to-reach locations and neutralize them using lasers. This adds an extra layer of safety for both the livestock and the farmers.

Protecting Children

For families living in rural or farming communities, drones can offer their children an unprecedented level of safety. A drone can be programmed to follow a child while they play outside and is equipped with features to sound an alarm if they wander too far. Drones can also detect potential dangers, such as approaching predators or snakes and take immediate action, either by deploying lasers to scare off the threat or by alerting parents via smartphone alerts.

Ethical and Safety Considerations

While these applications show great promise, it’s important to note that they come with ethical and safety concerns that need to be addressed. The use of lasers, especially in proximity to humans or animals, must be done with extreme caution to prevent harm. Regulatory bodies would need to set guidelines for safe and ethical use, particularly concerning identifying and engaging non-target organisms or objects.

How Drone Docking Systems Open the Door to Many New Possibilities

Wondering how drones will safely land near homes or offices in the future? Imagine a special landing spot on the side of your building, like the charging stations for electric cars. This spot lets drones land safely, recharge, and drop off or pick up things. But it can do even more.

Everyday Tasks Made Simple

1. Trash Day:

What if a drone could take out your garbage? A garbage dock on the side of your home could make this happen automatically.

2. Sewage Removal:

Waiting for the sewage truck? A special drone could take care of that quickly and cleanly, using a similar type of sewage dock.

3. Water Delivery:

Need more water at home or a new water filter? A drone could sort that out while you’re busy doing other things.

4. Battery Swap:

As homes use more renewable energy like solar power, drones could easily swap out your home batteries or recharge them.

5. Fast Food, On The Move:

Imagine your driverless car has a dock where a drone can connect, place a food delivery inside, and take off. Yes, you would be able to order food anyplace, anytime, and the drone will bring it directly to you, even while you’re driving.

6. Never Run Out of Charge:

Worried about your electric car’s battery running low? A drone could bring you a quick-charge battery even while you’re on the road. With the right kind of docking system, it could even dock, recharge, and take off again without you ever having to stop.

So, these special landing spots or ‘docking stations’ for drones could really change how we live and make many tasks easier and faster.

While drone regulations are well-intended, they have tremendously dampened the rate of innovation!

Regulatory Roadblocks: How Government Restrictions have Stymie Drone Innovation

While drones hold tremendous potential to revolutionize various industries—from agriculture and delivery services to environmental monitoring—the stringent regulations imposed by various governments have often acted as a significant barrier to innovation. These regulatory restrictions affect not just how drones can be used but also the very trajectory of technological advancements in drone capabilities.

Safety Concerns vs. Technological Advancements

The primary reason behind stringent regulations is understandable: safety. Drones sharing airspace with commercial aircraft pose a potential risk. Likewise, there are concerns about using drones for illicit activities such as spying or unauthorized surveillance. However, the broad-strokes approach of government regulations often hampers the nuanced developments that could alleviate these very concerns. For instance, technologies like geo-fencing and anti-collision systems can make drones far safer but are underutilized due to strict limitations on where and how drones can operate.

Economic Implications

The economic losses resulting from these stringent regulations are significant. In the United States alone, loosening restrictions on drone use could reportedly result in over $82 billion in economic growth and generate 100,000 jobs by 2025, according to the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. Yet, a conservative regulatory framework prevents this economic boon and hampers competition on a global scale. Countries with more relaxed regulations are making strides in drone technologies, leaving more restrictive nations trailing in innovation and adoption.

Hindering Pilot Programs

Due to regulatory challenges, Many promising drone initiatives don’t see the light of day. For example, drones equipped with lasers for weed control in agriculture or drones that could monitor and combat forest fires are frequently grounded in their testing phases. Even pilot programs, which are designed to gauge the efficacy and safety of such innovative uses, face uphill battles for authorization. This leads to a paradox where the data needed to prove the safety and utility of these technologies can’t be gathered due to initial safety concerns.

Stifling Small Innovators

Large corporations may have the resources to navigate the labyrinthine approval processes for drone operations, but smaller startups are not so fortunate. Filing for exemptions, waiting for approvals, and adapting to a patchwork of state and local laws consume time and resources that these small enterprises can’t spare, stifling innovation at its most nascent stages.

A Case for Regulatory Evolution

To unlock the full innovative potential of drones, a more adaptive regulatory framework is needed—one that can evolve with the technology it seeks to govern. While blanket prohibitions may offer simpler enforceability, they lack the nuance required to foster responsible innovation. An ideal approach might be more collaborative, involving stakeholders from the industry, technology experts, and policymakers, working in concert to develop guidelines that prioritize safety and innovation.

Although the intent behind stringent drone regulations is often well-placed, the effect has unfortunately been a damper on technological progress and economic growth. Only when the regulatory landscape becomes more nuanced and adaptable drones’ full potential across various sectors may remain largely untapped. With so much to gain—from improved agricultural yields to new jobs and safer communities—it’s a cost we can ill afford.

Drone delivery systems have been slowed by last-mile infrastructure,
which includes docking systems that have yet to be invented!

Final Thoughts

As we hurdle toward this sci-fi-esque future, we must engage in serious dialogue addressing these concerns. But one thing is certain: drones and their associated technologies have the potential to redefine our interaction with our environment and make our lives significantly more convenient. We are on the cusp of a revolutionary shift that extends beyond merely receiving packages at our doorsteps.

This future is one where our homes and offices are more than just static buildings; they become dynamic, multi-functional entities capable of interacting with us and the world around us in ways we’re just starting to imagine.

In essence, AI-flying delivery drones equipped with advanced docking systems could become the ultimate multi-taskers, embedding themselves into our daily lives in a way that redefines delivery and turns our homes and offices into smart, self-maintaining entities. And all of this could be just around the corner, waiting to dock with your home.

While we won’t ever change the natural process of photosynthesis, we’re rapidly transitioning to an artificial form of photosynthesis that doesn’t require sunlight.

Photosynthesis is responsible directly and indirectly for the oxygen we breathe and the food we eat. It’s a rather inefficient process, with only about 1% of the solar energy ending up in the plant biomass. Plants convert that light energy, along with atmospheric carbon dioxide and water, into chemical energy in the form of glucose that stimulates plant growth, releasing oxygen and water along the way.

With natural photosynthesis, the biochemical reaction and the glucose delivery happen in the same location – in the plant itself.

Recently, though, a team of researchers has demonstrated the possibility of dramatically increasing plant growth efficiency with a process that allows these sequential steps to take place in two locations – so the plant can stay in the dark.

The Artificial Photosynthesis Sequence

First, they used an electrocatalytic process in a lab setting to create acetate effluent – the main component of vinegar – combining carbon dioxide (CO2), water, and solar electricity. This process, which is essentially artificial photosynthesis, takes place in an electrolyzer.

Instead of glucose, the plant nourishment produced is carbon in the form of acetate. The acetate is collected and brought to the plant, where it’s absorbed through the root system and metabolized.

The production of acetate replicates many of the benefits of natural photosynthesis. In its basic form, water and carbon dioxide are converted to oxygen and carbon (acetate), with energy (ideally solar) making it all happen.

The team tested the approach on known crops to see if they could be grown with acetate and without sunlight. Black-eyed peas, tomatoes, tobacco, rice, canola, and green peas were all able to utilize carbon from acetate when cultivated in the dark.

The benefits and future implications of breaking the photosynthesis process into these two steps are significant.

Farming Acreage and Location

This artificial photosynthesis process is estimated to be four times more efficient than sunlight-driven photosynthesis. While we wouldn’t do away with traditional farming completely, traditional farm footprints could be pared back significantly and concentrated in more fertile areas, reducing the need for extended irrigation systems to increasingly drier locations.

Researchers are already exploring how to supercharge traditional farms by adding this new artificial photosynthetic approach.

Food Factories

Well into the future, we’ll see food-growing factories similar to the indoor cannabis-growing facilities those of us in Denver are used to seeing in the city’s warehouse district. While indoor cannabis operations are incredibly energy-intensive given their need to support natural photosynthesis in an indoor environment with the use of grow lights, artificial photosynthesis-based indoor food farms would use very little energy – practically none to support the growing process.

These multi-floor indoor farms will flourish in areas with inexpensive, nonproductive land. Near the farm factories we’ll find lab factories using solar power to produce the all-important life-giving, photosynthesis-mimicking, carbon-rich acetate effluent.

Food Security on Earth …

Food from smaller farms in more preferable, secure locations, combined with indoor-grown food, will make the world’s food supply less susceptible to droughts and floods. Food factories could also be strategically located closer to cities and in other areas less suitable for farming but close to the populations that need food.

… And in Space

This technology will revolutionize the practice of growing plants in space – whether at the International Space Station or on future voyages well beyond that. We need to take advantage of every cubic inch of our habitable space vehicles, and if we can grow the same amount of food in one-fourth of the space required now, it will be a huge boost to our efforts to push deeper into space.

In fact, the acetate-based plant metabolization process described above recently won a top prize in NASA’s Deep Space Food Challenge that promotes the development of new food technologies suitable for long-duration space missions.

Food Quality

Would food grown using this artificial photosynthesis process taste or seem different in any way? There’s no reason to think it would taste different, but it might look different. In natural photosynthesis, naturally present chlorophyll, which gives plants a green coloring, supports the conversion of light to energy.

With light-less, artificial photosynthesis, it’s not clear whether these molecules might lose their green coloring and if the relative dormancy of the chlorophyll might over time lead to a genetic mutation in some plant families so they resemble what we often see today in albino plants or “albinism.” I’m not a botanist, though, and I haven’t seen any research on that question.

Coming Soon to Your Grocer?

When will we begin to see food that’s been grown in the dark? Like many innovations, from Tang to Dustbusters, our astronaut corps will be utilizing artificial photosynthesis to grow plants before any farmers on Earth do.

At this time, researchers have only scratched the surface of this technology, and they’ve just recently proven the concept. Perfecting the artificial photosynthesis process will take several more years, and scaling it will be the next hurdle beyond that.

The first widespread use won’t be with massive corporate high-rise farms in the U.S., but in indoor micro-farms in areas of the world where food security is especially threatened, including countries in central and southern Africa.

India will also likely be an early adopter given that nation’s proclivity to capitalize quickly on scientific breakthroughs, such as thorium-based nuclear energy production, as we noted last week.

It’s not exactly “self-watering” farming but it’s close. A research team led by Dr. Guihua Yu at the engineering school at the University of Texas in Austin have developed a hydrogel that when mixed with soil captures humidity from the air at night and releases the water during the day to irrigate the soil and promote plant growth.

Amazing Hydrogels

Hydrogels are not new. These compounds contain water and absorb water incredibly well. They’ve recently been used in things like healthcare, first aid products, and contact lenses. Over the past few years, these UT researchers have been refining many applications for this technology.

Three years ago they reported on their new zinc oxide hydrogel that could remove moisture from the air to minimize localized humidity, by coating an interior wall or window with these materials. Once saturated, hydrogels become opaque and can significantly reduce infrared light transmission when used as a window coating. The materials can even generate small amounts of electricity and serve as an emergency power source similar to the energy from a AA battery.

A year later, Dr. Yu’s engineers spent time exploring how their hydrogel could be used for water generation and filtration. They added a thermal responsive element to the material that causes it to release the absorbed water when the hydrogel is heated – for example by sunlight. At that point they could envision mobile, solar powered water generating systems that seemingly would make water out of thin, moist air.

Next Generation

Dr. Yu and his team pushed this technology even further and developed a specific hydrogel that can be mixed with soil to support a self-watering system for plants and crops. Picture a farm or garden in which hydrogel-infused soil collects humidity from the cool, moist night air and then releases that moisture into the soil in the form of liquid water when the sun rises and temperatures heat up.

In one experiment, radishes planted in the hydrogel soil survived and grew over a 14-day period without any ongoing irrigation. However, radishes grown in a side-by-side experiment with untreated soil, didn’t survive more than two days after their irrigation stopped.

Yu’s engineering researchers found that hydrogel soil farming can be very efficient – one gram of the soil mixture can absorb three to four grams of moisture. For some crops, a kilogram or less of the material can irrigate roughly 1 square mile of farmland.

The Future of Self-Watering

Hydrogels are just the latest example of how we are capturing and using some of nature’s abundant, renewable resources. Wind, solar, and hydropower are now mainstream. Hydrogel-infused soil that captures and uses natural humidity will be mentioned in similar breakthrough lists in less than a decade.

And it’s just in time. We’re losing farmland. Lack of soil is not the only issue; desertification and lack of water is becoming a huge factor. Water scarcity is forcing farmers to compete with cities, water recreation, and even wildlife for these resources.

Extreme weather has been altering rainfall patterns, and one of the effects is increased drought. Hotter weather and the resulting faster evaporation are limiting the amount of water for irrigation – just at a time we need more rain for farming to feed a growing world population.

But water is all around us in the form of vapor and humidity – 50,000 cubic kilometers in fact. If a significant portion of farming can rely on hydrogel soil technology, we won’t have to choose between fish and farms.

And it appears that hydrogels can also be infused with fertilizer and pesticides for slow, controlled release of these substances to further promote healthy, substantial crop yields.

Coming to Fields and Gardens Near You

Now that the concept of hydrogel soil has been proven, commercializing and scaling it will likely take 3-5 years. Once it’s mass produced, except in the most arid environments, we’ll see subsistence and commercial farms spring up around the world without the need for irrigation systems, pumping, and other water supply challenges. We’ll have more farmable land that requires less surface water.

Farmers around the world will rototill hydrogels into the soil in their fields. Small bags will be available at home gardening stores to mix with potting or gardening soil. We’ll apply it to our yards so we can throttle back watering frequency for our lawns.

Predictions for the future will certainly always be filled with headline-grabbing topics like space colonization, self-driving cars, and robotics. But the quality of our future may rely just as much or more on basic scientific breakthroughs like hydrogel soil that efficiently tap into nature and our existing natural resources.

We just can’t get enough meat it seems.

The numbers and trends are staggering. Meat production doubled between 1988 and 2018. By 2050 it will have doubled from 2008 levels to 570 million tons. The average American eats more than 200 pounds of meat annually. That all adds up to a big concern because meat is one of the most inefficient sources of food we can conceive of. Meat production is resource-intensive. Raising animals to kill them takes a lot of water, land, and energy – 75 times more energy than raising corn.

One alternative that could make a dent in these numbers is the recent, rapid proliferation of lab-grown meat. Lab-grown meat, also referred to as “cultured meat” (the industry prefers “clean meat” for understandable reasons), is real meat, not to be confused with plant-based meat. The lab processes being used are continuing to be refined so that the resulting meat has the same texture and cooking properties as traditional meat.

The process begins with animal cells, just like it does with an ultimate living, walking animal. It takes place in a plant-based culture or growth medium that speeds up the process tremendously – 20-times faster, according to one company in the business.

A little over two years ago I shared my thoughts on this topic with FeedInfo News Service. I suggested that the future of lab-grown meat came down to two variables: How does it taste? And how much does it cost?

Passing the Tests

In those two years, there’s been significant progress on both fronts, thanks in large part to breakthroughs from several Israel-based companies. Aleph Farms predicts its soon-to-be-released beef steak product that uses a proprietary growth medium will be priced very competitively with conventionally grown beef and will be even less expensive than plant-based meat.

But what about taste? Another company, SuperMeat, just opened a restaurant featuring its cultured chicken meat. Taste testers and chefs reportedly found it to be “indistinguishable” from conventionally grown chicken.

Scaling the Prototypes

The ability to scale the cultured meat process is another important test, and we seem well on our way to achieving that imperative as well. Future Meat Technologies, with financial backing from Tyson Foods, Rich’s Products Corp., and others, is capable of producing 1,100 pounds of lab-grown meat per day, roughly 5,000 quarter-pound hamburger patties, for some context. They’re also producing lamb, pork, and chicken.

Aleph’s Co-Founder announced that just one of their BioFarms, or manufacturing plants, will produce “thousands of tonnes of cultivated meat per year.”

Another company, Mosa Meat, has stated that one tissue sample from a cow can yield enough tissue to make 20,000 pounds of meat – or “80,000 quarter pounders.” I’ve noticed that many companies in this industry seem to choose that unit of measure to tout their products and processes!

Normalizing Cultured Meat

Once it hits the markets, the novelty of lab-grown meat will wear off quickly and it will become as mainstream as plant-based meat substitutes. This initial acceptance will come from several demographic groups.

Environmentalists will support it since cultured meat is produced far more sustainably than traditional meat. It uses significantly less water, land, and energy and it produces far less greenhouse gas emissions – although modest levels of CO2 emissions from the “food factories” should be factored into that net benefit equation.

Health-conscious consumers will appreciate the fact that the risk of eating meat from a diseased animal is likely to be lower given the sterile lab conditions in the meat factories. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasn’t weighed in yet but they’re studying the process and working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to prepare to oversee production in the U.S.

And notably, a leading Orthodox Rabbi has stated that lab-grown meat “would not be subject to the rules that apply to the consumption of regular meat,” including pork.

Ultimately, cultured meat won’t replace all traditionally grown meat, but early projections show it could displace over 1/3 of it. It will be highly utilized in the fast-food industry, but probably not in the nation’s finest steakhouses.

Deeper Into the Future

In that interview two years ago, I made the seemingly outlandish claim that lab-grown meat was just the first step. This same technology will be used for a variety of products. In fact it’s been used for years in regenerative medicine and the production of vaccines.

Now that the economics and scale of this process have been proven, it seems like the sky, indeed, is the limit. We’ll expand quickly beyond beef, pork, and chicken to exotic meat products – ostrich, snake, wombat, penguin, and any threatened species currently protected from slaughter.

We’ll also see health products. Imagine a world where a woman can lab-produce mother’s milk, possibly with a home lab kit. Or how about someone lab-producing their blood or stem cells for upcoming surgeries or donation?

Let’s take it even further. We’ll eventually have cultured animal material for non-edible use – leather jackets, shoes, and other clothing, or lambskin seat covers.

First things first, though. The sale of lab-produced meat will require FDA approval with regard to labeling and possibly other matters. But once it’s in the grocery stores and priced competitively, clean meat will make up a significant portion of the diets for people around the world.