Handing a farmer a fistful of magic beans with the promise that they will improve his business might sound like something out of a fairy-tale. But, as Arthur C. Clarke put it, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. The sensor-filled “beans” developed by Andrew Holland, an electronics engineer from Swaffham Bulbeck, near Cambridge, England, are not only advanced technology. They could also, Mr Holland says, provide an answer to many a farmer’s prayers. Mixed into the contents of a granary, his beans would report continuously on the temperature and humidity, both of which encourage rotting if they are too high, and on carbon-dioxide levels, which reflect the amount of insect breath exhaled, and thus the level of infestation.
High-tech ‘beans’ could reduce food waste
More of Today's Solutions
How offshore wind foundations became accidental reef habitat
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM When engineers drove 54 steel cylinders into the sandy seafloor southeast of Long Island to anchor Empire Wind ...
Read MoreHeart failure and valve disease spotted in seconds by new AI ECG tool
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In a trial of 67,000 patients, an AI tool identified heart failure in up to 81 percent of ...
Read MoreStudy lays out ways to enhance Indigenous health
In Australia, Indigenous communities experience poorer health than other Australians and often die at much younger ages. This is due to Indigenous Australians being ...
Read MoreWriters start campaign to push publishing towards carbon neutrality
The weighty feel of a book in your hands; a window into the minds and hearts of people. Whether you're taking it to the ...
Read More
