(Press-News.org) No longer science fiction, farm robots are already here--and they have created two possible extremes for the future of agriculture and its impacts on the environment, argues agricultural economist Thomas Daum in a Science & Society article published July 13 in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution. One is a utopia, where fleets of small, intelligent robots farm in harmony with nature to produce diverse, organic crops. The other is a dystopia in which large, tractor-like robots subdue the landscape through heavy machinery and artificial chemicals.
He describes the utopian scenario as a mosaic of rich, green fields, streams, and wild flora and fauna, where fleets of small robots fueled by sustainable energy flit around the fields, their whirrs intermixed with insect chirps and birdsong. "It's like a Garden of Eden," says Daum (@ThomDaum), a research fellow at the University of Hohenheim in Germany studying agricultural development strategies. "Small robots could help conserve biodiversity and combat climate change in ways that were not possible before."
He suggests that the utopian scenario, which is too labor intensive for conventional farming but is possible with robots working 24/7, would likely benefit the environment in numerous ways. Plants would be more diverse and the soil would be more nutrient-rich. Thanks to micro-spraying of biopesticides and laser weed removal, nearby water, insect populations, and soil bacteria would also be healthier. Organic crops yields--which are currently often lower than conventional crop yields--would be higher, and farming's environmental footprint would be significantly reduced.
However, he says a parallel future with negative environmental ramifications is just as possible. In that scenario, he says, big but technologically-crude robots would bulldoze the natural landscape, and a few monoculture crops would dominate the terrain. Large fences would isolate people, farms, and wildlife from each other. With humans removed from the farms, agrochemicals and pesticides may be more broadly used. The ultimate objectives would be structure and control: qualities that these simpler robots thrive in but would likely have harmful effects on the environment.
While he notes it's not likely that the future will be confined to either a pure utopia or a pure dystopia, by creating these two scenarios, Daum hopes to spark conversation at what he sees as a crossroads moment in time. "The utopia and dystopia are both possible from a technological perspective. But without the right guardrails on policy, we may end up in the dystopia without wanting to if we don't discuss this now," Daum says.
But these impacts aren't limited to just the environment--normal people are affected too. "Robot farming may also concretely affect you as a consumer," he says. "In the utopia, we aren't just producing cereal crops--we have lots of fruits and vegetables whose relative prices would fall, so a healthier diet would become more affordable."
The small robots described in Daum's utopian scenario would also be more feasible for small-scale farmers, who could more easily afford them or share them through Uber-like services. In contrast, he argues that the family farm is less likely to survive in the dystopian scenario: only major manufacturers, he says, would be able to manage the vast swaths of land and high costs of large machinery.
In parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, where there are currently many smaller farms, there are clear benefits of making a conscious effort to achieve the utopian scenario. The situation is more challenging in countries like the United States, Russia, or Brazil, which historically have been dominated by large-scale farms producing high-volume, low-value grains and oilseeds. There, small robots--which perform less efficiently on energy-intensive tasks like threshing corn--may not always be the most economically effective option.
"While it is true that the preconditions for small robots are more challenging in these areas," he says, "even with large robots--or a mix between small and large--we can take steps towards the utopia with practices such as intercropping, having hedgerows, agroforestry, and moving away from larger farms to smaller plots of land owned by large farmers. Some such practices may even pay off for farmers once robots can do the job, as previously uneconomic practices become profitable."
To do so requires action now, Daum says. While some aspects of the utopian scenario like laser weeding have already been developed and are ready to be distributed widely, funding must go toward other aspects of machine learning and artificial intelligence in order to develop robots intelligent enough to adapt to complex, unstructured farm systems. Policy changes are also a necessity and could take the form of subsidies, regulations, or taxes. "In the European Union, for example, farmers get money when they do certain landscape services like having a lot of trees or rivers on their farms," he says.
While it may seem like the dystopia scenario is more likely, it's not the only path forward. "I think the utopia is achievable," Daum says. "It won't be as easy as the dystopia, but it's very much possible."
INFORMATION:
This work was supported by "Program of Accompanying Research for Agricultural Innovation," which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Daum: "Farm robots: Ecological utopia or dystopia?" https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/fulltext/S0169-5347(21)00175-0
Trends in Ecology & Evolution (@Trends_Ecol_Evo), published by Cell Press, is a monthly review journal that contains polished, concise, and readable reviews and opinions in all areas of ecology and evolutionary science. It aims to keep scientists informed of new developments and ideas across the full range of ecology and evolutionary biology--from the pure to the applied, and from molecular to global. Visit: http://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution. To receive Cell Press media alerts, please contact press@cell.com.
PITTSBURGH, July 13, 2021 - Substantially more people in the U.S. with opioid use disorder are receiving evidence-based treatment for the disease, but there are still considerable gaps in care along racial lines, according to the largest analysis to date of opioid use disorder among Medicaid recipients.
The results, published today in JAMA, provide insights that policymakers and medical providers can act on to improve access to quality care for opioid use disorder, one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. The analysis was possible because of a unique network that partnered academic institutes with state Medicaid programs to overcome barriers to data sharing between states.
"Medicaid plays an incredibly important role in our ...
A new wearable device turns the touch of a finger into a source of power for small electronics and sensors. Engineers at the University of California San Diego developed a thin, flexible strip that can be worn on a fingertip and generate small amounts of electricity when a person's finger sweats or presses on it.
What's special about this sweat-fueled device is that it generates power even while the wearer is asleep or sitting still. This is potentially a big deal for the field of wearables because researchers have now figured out how to harness the energy that can be extracted from human sweat even when a person is not moving.
This type of device is ...
What The Study Did: Researchers used a large data resource of U.S. COVID-19 cases and control patients who tested negative from multiple health systems across the country to evaluate COVID-19 severity and risk factors over time and assess the use of machine learning to predict clinical severity.
Authors: Tellen D. Bennett, M.D., of the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, and Christopher G. Chute, M.D., of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, are corresponding authors.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.16901)
Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the ...
Osaka, Japan - BRCA1, a protein that is well-known for its role in hereditary breast cancer, is an important part of the cellular system that repairs double-strand DNA breaks. Now, researchers from Japan have discovered a new way in which cells protect these broken DNA ends to make sure that they are repaired correctly.
In a study published in Cell Reports, researchers from Osaka University have revealed that protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) binds to double-strand breaks early on to promote repair by a process known as nonhomologous end joining instead of by homologous ...
For their own benefit and to grow beyond control, tumours manipulate cell signals to make it appear as if the cells have the nutrients they need. That is the case in follicular lymphoma, a type of tumour that affects the B lymphocytes of the immune system. One in six follicular lymphoma patients has mutations in RagC, a gene involved in the mTOR nutrient signalling pathway.
The team led by Alejo Efeyan, head of the Metabolism and Cell Signalling Group at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), has discovered that genetic inhibition of the RagC protein blocks the activation of B lymphocytes and delays the onset of follicular lymphomas without side effects. The study, which was carried out in animal models, was published this ...
Patients with Achilles tendinopathy, a disease of the Achilles tendon that can potentially cause significant pain, receive no benefit from being treated with platelet rich plasma (PRP) injection, a clinical trial led by the University of Warwick has found.
PRP is a treatment often used for a number of orthopaedic conditions and popularised by its use by elite sportspeople. However, this new study published today (13 July) in the Journal of the American Medical Association and funded by Versus Arthritis has shown that it is ineffective for the treatment of Achilles tendinopathy ...
New research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London, in collaboration with Glasgow University, has found that teenagers who have self-harmed five or more times in their life have a significantly higher threshold for pain compared to adolescents that have not.
The study, which has been published in JAMA Network Open, is the largest study of its kind looking at the relationship between self-harm and bodily sensation, found that the threshold for sensitivity, both painful and not, increases significantly the more a participant ...
(Boston)--Proper lung function relies on the precise balance of specialized epithelial cells (cells that line the surfaces of the body) that coordinate functions to maintain homeostasis. One important lung cell type is the goblet cell, which secretes mucus that helps protect the lining of the bronchus (major air passages of the lung) and trap microorganisms. Goblet cells are often increased in lung diseases, but signals that lead to their dysregulation are not well understood.
Researchers have now discovered a new set of signals that control the production of goblet cells in the lung. "By altering the proteins that control these signals we are able to either increase or decrease the production of goblet cells which offers potential new avenues for therapeutically targeting ...
The journey of the egg and the embryo through the fallopian tube or oviduct toward the uterus is not well understood, mainly because it is inaccessible for direct imaging. Looking to shed new light on the dynamics of the eggs prior to fertilization and embryo transport preceding implantation, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Stevens Institute of Technology developed a novel imaging approach that has allowed them to see eggs and embryos as they move along the fallopian tube in a live animal.
Published in the journal Cell Reports, the researchers' observations revealed that eggs and embryos go through an unexpected journey that is more dynamic and complex than previously ...
In addition to chemical factors, mechanical influences play an important role in the natural growth of human organs such as kidneys, lungs and mammary glands - but also in the development of tumors. Now a research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has investigated the process in detail using organoids, three-dimensional model systems of such organs which are produced in the laboratory.
Organoids are three-dimensional systems modeling various human organs. Grown in the laboratory, they exhibit properties similar to those of actual body tissue. Organoids offer science new opportunities to simulate and investigate the processes of organ growth. These processes could not be observed in the ...
