Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab have created a computer that could change how food is produced around the globe.
The computer essentially looks like a box filled with plants that can grow anything regardless of the surrounding climate.
Underlying the potential success of this invention is something called 'Climate Recipes' which allows the computer to mimic specific sets of conditions required to grow the desired crop.
Food computer
In practice, each recipe can alter variables such as humidity, root-zone temperature and carbon dioxide within the chamber to ensure that conditions within the box are optimum for the type of plant you want.
Although the system is in its research stages, it could be part of the solution to global food shortages.
SEE ALSO:
- Climate Change Could Cause A Fatal Temperature Rise In The Persian Gulf, Scientists Predict
- Obama Interviews David Attenborough About Climate Change And Things Get Deep
- World's Entire Marine Ecosystem Under Threat From Climate Change Study Says
- Photographer Links Heartbreaking Image Of Polar Bear To Climate Change And Post Goes Viral On Facebook
Currently, we need 50 per cent more food to feed nine billion people by 2050. However, due to climate and water stress, traditional farming methods are failing to meet the demand for food.
Plants growing in the food computer
According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, agricultural food production will need to more than double by 2050 to ensure that supply meets demand.
While MIT's food computer doesn't claim to be the golden key to solving this problem, it does bring us closer to a more plausible solution.