Have you ever heard of Sprout? Google the word and you get a lot of different results. But this definition is an agricultural application on Google’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform that enables you to communicate with plants. You may already know that plants can grow without soil. It’s called hydroponics (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroponics); basically, exposed roots are
During my first trip to a third-world country (Egypt in 2002), I was fascinated to see how they were modernizing. The best example was they were adopting cell phones, thus skipping land lines. In effect, they were leaping over an entire iteration of technology. I thought of this while reading an article about how an
Smokey Bear would be appalled. Australian Aborigines have always used fire as a hunting aid and to keep ecosystems healthy. They realized something long before we did — small fires burn away excess plant material and prevent catastrophes. But according to Aboriginal lore, there was another native species who saw the value of fire —
For the past twenty-plus years, I’ve met once a week with a group of friends to play “wargames.” Not running through the woods (I’m too old for that), but board games that are historical simulations. It can be tough to make a decision sometimes, especially if you know what really happened and you’re trying for
How do you know if a marriage will last? This is definitely out of my area of expertise, but I’ve run across someone who has developed some signs to watch for. One neutral observer who spends a lot of time with the couple. A wedding photographer. A group of professional wedding photographers have compiled a
If you’ve ever wanted to start a business, you have to pick a catchy name. But most of those have already been taken. In fact, most of the words you use every day are probably trademarked. The problem is outlined in an article entitled “Someone probably owns most of the things you say” by Janet Nguyen
My last post highlighted water shortages, using Cape Town, South Africa as an example, and one agricultural solution being tried in Oklahoma. As a follow-up, the BBC has published a list of the eleven other cities most likely to run out of drinking water. If you’re wondering if you live in a vulnerable area, the
Whenever I get a chance to teach social studies, I tell my students that sometime in their lifetimes there will be a war over water somewhere in the world. You’ve probably seen the stories about Cape Town, South Africa, and how their current water supply is measured in months. The latest projection is they will
I just ran across a disturbing article — Life expectancy in the U.S. has dropped for the second year in a row. An editorial in the journal BMJ entitled “Failing Health of the U.S.” (http://www.bmj.com/content/360/bmj.k496 ) considers this “alarming because life expectancy has risen for much of the past century in developed countries, including the
Never underestimate the power of running. Rob Jones is a former Marine combat engineer who lost both legs to an explosion in Afghanistan. But what others would think was a handicap, he saw as an opportunity. First he and a partner won a bronze medal as rowers in the 2012 Paralympics, then went on to
