Incredible Algae Dome absorbs sun and CO2 to produce superfood and oxygen

Industrial agriculture is blamed as a major cause of greenhouse gas, but what if there was a way to sustainably produce food that could help solve some of the world’s toughest environmental problems? That’s what the folks at SPACE10 , a Copenhagen-based future-living lab, tackled with the futuristic Algae Dome, a four-meter-tall food-producing architecture pavilion that pumps out oxygen in a closed-loop system. Powered by solar energy, the Algae Dome offers a sustainable and hyper-local food system that can pop up almost anywhere with minimal impact on the environment. Architects Aleksander Wadas, Rafal Wroblewski, Anna Stempniewicz, and bioengineer Keenan Pinto created the Algae Dome, which was presented at the CHART art fair in Copenhagen last week. Although SPACE10 has experimented with growing microgreens before, the team targets an even smaller food with the Algae Dome—micro-algae. Praised as a future “superfood,” micro-algae is said to contain twice as much protein as meat and is packed with vitamins and minerals, with more beta carotene than carrots and more iron than found in spinach, according to SPACE10. Even better? Micro-algae are among the world’s fastest-growing organisms and can be grown with sunshine and water almost anywhere, all while sucking up carbon dioxide and expelling oxygen in the process. Related: SPACE10 creates an open-source Growroom you can build at home During the three-day CHART art fair, the Algae Dome produced 450 liters of micro-algae and provided an interactive architectural experience that was part food system, part furniture, and wholly educational. The large amount of food was produced in a surprisingly small amount of space thanks to the design that featured 320 meters of coiled tubing, showing off the flow of emerald green micro-algae. Visitors were invited to sit inside the pavilion and enjoy a “breath of fresh air” created by the micro-algae as it converted carbon dioxide into oxygen. Packets of delicious spirulina (a type of blue-green algae) chips, created by SPACE10’s chef-in-residence Simon Perez, were placed around the pavilion to give passersby the chance to try the superfood. “In the future, different species of microalgae could be used as a form of nutrient-rich food, as a replacement for soy protein in animal feed, in the development of biofuels, as a way to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, and as a method of treating industrial wastewater,” said SPACE10. “In other words, microalgae could help combat malnutrition, reduce our dependence on fossil fuels , help stop the destruction of the rainforest, improve air quality, and reduce pollution. Little wonder that microalgae has been dubbed the future’s sustainable super crop.” SPACE10 sees the Algae Dome as the prototype for food-producing architecture that could pop up virtually anywhere, from bus stops to apartment complexes. + SPACE10 Picture credit: Niklas Adrian Vindelev

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Incredible Algae Dome absorbs sun and CO2 to produce superfood and oxygen

Urban Farm Pod’s brilliant plug-in ecology could revolutionize urban farming

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Urban Farm Pod’s brilliant plug-in ecology could revolutionize urban farming

South Africa is relaxing restrictions on GMOs to fight drought-related food crisis

Food supplies have grown so unstable in South Africa that the government may soon allow imports of some genetically modified foods , which were previously under tight restrictions, in order to fend off a food crisis. GM corn maize crops from the United States and Mexico may soon be crossing the borders to make up for 3.8 million metric tons of corn crops that South African farmers are unable to grow due to severe drought. Amid fears of cross-contamination of GM crops, the government is considering making exceptions to tough regulations in order to continue to feed people. Read the rest of South Africa is relaxing restrictions on GMOs to fight drought-related food crisis

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South Africa is relaxing restrictions on GMOs to fight drought-related food crisis

This element, essential to all life, is rapidly disappearing from the planet

Of the many things threatening the world’s food supply, the element with the ability to wreak the most havoc hasn’t made many headlines. Researchers are now warning that waning phosphorous levels could devastate food production around the globe. A nonrenewable resource with no synthetic substitute, phosphorous is an essential nutrient and it’s disappearing faster than anyone realized. Read the rest of This element, essential to all life, is rapidly disappearing from the planet

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This element, essential to all life, is rapidly disappearing from the planet

Amazing sunken SubZero Pavilion for Floriade 2022 boasts a rooftop greenhouse

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Amazing sunken SubZero Pavilion for Floriade 2022 boasts a rooftop greenhouse

Light Walk: interactive LED-studded tunnel celebrates UNESCO’s International Year of Light

David Heaton and Sandra Linton Huezo designed the Light Walk, an interactive light installation that changes its appearance as users move through the space. Installed at the entrance of the Carl Zeiss eG in Germany, the Light Walk was created in celebration of the UNESCO 2015 International Year of Light Festival . Sensors captured user movement and then displayed as a ‘data ghost’ of light through a 3D light matrix to create an augmented reality where users can see their own data visualized. + David Heaton The article above was submitted to us by an Inhabitat reader. Want to see your story on Inhabitat ? Send us a tip by following this link . Remember to follow our instructions carefully to boost your chances of being chosen for publishing!

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Light Walk: interactive LED-studded tunnel celebrates UNESCO’s International Year of Light

Chicago’s FarmedHere plans to expand vertical indoor farming to 20 new locations across the country

Serious indoor agriculture used to be reserved for people who were into black lights and excessive incense burning, but the times are definitely changing. Now, a number of savvy business folk are investing in vertical indoor farming as a means of serious food production. One such startup, FarmedHere , hopes to lead the charge to turn us all into farmers. We’ve written about the company’s efforts in the past, but the new CEO Matt Matros has plans for the future that could bring vertical indoor farming to every corner of the country. Read the rest of Chicago’s FarmedHere plans to expand vertical indoor farming to 20 new locations across the country

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Chicago’s FarmedHere plans to expand vertical indoor farming to 20 new locations across the country

This barcode-like Milan Expo info pavilion design is inspired by traditional Italian farmhouses

Read the rest of This barcode-like Milan Expo info pavilion design is inspired by traditional Italian farmhouses Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: 2015 Milan Expo , agriculture , food production , info pavilion , material re-use , Milan , milan expo , milan expo 2015 , pavilion , Prefab , StudioBaft , sustainable food , Tactile Architecture

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This barcode-like Milan Expo info pavilion design is inspired by traditional Italian farmhouses

Super salty water is the secret beneath Antarctica’s ‘bleeding glacier’

We’ve reported on Antarctica’s Taylor Glacier before . Better known as ‘Blood Falls,’ it’s an awe-inspiring, bone-chilling sight as a deep red, five-storey waterfall steadily seeps through cracks in the glacier’s facade. The eerie natural phenomena, located in the McMurdo Dry Valley , was first discovered by explorers in 1911, and it’s long been known that the water gains its distinctive hue from excess levels of brine. Now, a team of scientists led by Jill Mikucki , a microbiologist at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville , have used electromagnetic sensors to track the subglacial briny waters that lie beneath one of the most arid places on earth. They found that on the Taylor Glacier, these waters stretch back at least three miles, and contain twice as much salt as seawater. Not only does this indicate that Blood Falls may be part of a much larger subglacial network of groundwater, but—with a climate that is considered the closest on Earth to Mars —some are hypothesizing that similar briny waters may exist beneath the surface of the red planet . Via Live Science Image via Peter Rejcek, National Science Foundation Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: antarctica dry valley , antarctica glacier , bleeding glacier , blood falls , groundwater sources , mcmurdo dry valley , microbes antarctica , taylor glacier , water mars

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Super salty water is the secret beneath Antarctica’s ‘bleeding glacier’

Benefits of organic food go far beyond vitamins and minerals, despite study results

It makes sense to this writer that organic food is a healthier option than convention produce, which is grown with  synthetic pesticides and fertilizers . Take away those harmful chemicals, and organic food ought to be better for you, right? I am not alone in this line of thought, and as such, the organic food market is a $29 billion industry. That said,  a study is pouring cold water on this theory, suggesting that research into organic food has found “scant evidence of health benefits”… but is the new study missing the point? Read the rest of Benefits of organic food go far beyond vitamins and minerals, despite study results Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: Annals of Internal Medicine , fertilizers , food production , health benefits , Organic , organic farming , organic farming methods , organic food , organic fruits and vegetables , organic produce , pesticides , stanford university of medicine , vegetables

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Benefits of organic food go far beyond vitamins and minerals, despite study results

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