Tag: technology vs nature

Animal rights

EVENT_PLANT PROTEIN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FORUM

Plant Protein Science and Technology Forum

AOCS online forum October 12-14, 2021

$299 non-member, $199 member, $59 student-member

(AOCS – the American Oil Chemists Society)

Unfortunately I will not be able to attend this for financial reasons.  It is of particular interest as we see the rise of the vat grown burgers becoming a mainstream product instead the small niche market vegan burgers have traditionally been.  The vat grown burger, both cell-cultured and plant based, are marketed under the rubric of reducing animal cruelty and being better for the environment, hence this event’s categorization under Animal Rights.

 

Low Tech Solutions

LOW TECH SOLUTIONS – GOATS FOR FIRE BREAKS AND INVASIVE PLANT CONTROL

Technology is not always the answer.

Rather than use heavy machinery to cut huge swaths of land down to the bare earth, a couple in Alberta, Canada have spent two decades renting out their herd of goats.  Heavy machinery is almost as disruptive and dangerous to the animals that live on land as a fire itself, destroying nests and burrows and frequently grinding up animals unable to escape in time.  Goats, on the other hand, just eat around the critters and leave burrows and nests in place.

Pesticides to kill off invasive species of plants do the same deadly damage to the native fauna as well as invasive flora. Grazing animals eat poisoned plants. predators eat poisoned grazers. Both types of animals get coated with the poisons as they wander through their home territories and then injest the herbicides when they groom themselves.  Goats…well goats may annoy the natural fauna but they aren’t deadly, and goats can be directed to eat only the invasive plants while leaving the natural plants alone.

Goats also have the advantage of producing milk as a by product of all this munching, so it seems like an obvious win-win situation.  Fire reduction, natural flora protection, happy and healthy critters who live in the area, and Chevre cheese. Why are we not using goats as the standard go-to more often?

RECOMMENDED READING:

Alberta couple spent decades using their goats for fire mitigation, invasive species in B.C.

Events

Iceland School of Energy – Student Application Deadline

Interested in joining a global community of industry leaders, professionals, researchers, and policy makers aimed at creating a sustainable future? For over a decade, our international MSc programmes have been a proven pathway to a career in sustainable energy and electric power.

Applications are open for students and professionals from the EU/EEA and countries that do not require D-visas upon arrival. This includes Australia, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, UK, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, United States of America, and more (see our link).

https://en.ru.is/ise/admissions/application-deadlines/

Animal rights

REPOST: “A DELICIOUS HISTORY OF MEATLESS MEAT”

I really enjoyed this.

A Delicious History of “Meatless Meat”

Looking for some comments on what people think about the new vat-grown meat.  Clean language and consideration necessary for commenting.  Have we reached the age of the Jetsons?  Most of us are ok with technology vs nature on the issue of robo pets but what happens when its something we eat?

 

Also under Animal Rights:

The Rat Race is On!  Rats Learn to Drive!

Robots/Artificial Life

ROBOTS: MARS CATS

Tired of cleaning litter boxes?  Robotic pets are an alternative. I used to love my Furby.  And studies have shown that human beings make the same kind of emotional attachments to inanimate objects that they do to living creatures if they perceive the object to be lifelike.

MarsCats

This new robo kitty will have you purring.  The creators claim she has 6 characteristics that will adapt and shape her personality depending on the care you provide for her.  MarsCat can be an introvert or extrovert.   She can be enthusiastic or aloof, energetic or lazy, social or shy.

She is indeed very life like.  If you ignore her then try to play with her later, she will ignore you and you will have to coax her back into accepting your affection.

RASPBERRY PI PLATFORM

MarsCat is an open source platform.  You can customize your cat to make a completely unique personality.

ETHICS

MarsCats raise the issue of the ethics of technology replacing the natural.  Technology gives a human full control.  Nature is less controllable, but I would argue that it is in dealing with life’s variability that develops character in human beings.  However, MarsCats and their brethren provide a viable option for companionship and entertainment for city living.  I feel that a better option would be to provide more rentals that accept pets.  But as this requires the pet owners to keep their pets from damaging the rental, and requires owners to be respectful of their neighbors, I suspect MarsCats will be a very popular choice.

THE COMPANY

Elephant Robotics is a technology firm located in Shenzhen, China.  They create robots for industrial manufacturing and commercial purposes, as well as education and scientific research.  And, of course, for fun.  Their mission is to “Enjoy Robots World.”