Grape phylloxera, or Daktulosphaira vitifoliae[1], is an aphidlike insect that attacks grapevines with devastating effects. In Colorado, where wine is an estimated US$3.9 billion dollar industry[2], phylloxera poses a significant threat.
In 2015, several vineyards in the Grand Valley American Viticultural Area on Colorado’s Western Slope observed...
Until Homo floresiensis was discovered, scientists assumed that the evolution of the human lineage was defined by bigger and bigger brains. Via a process called encephalization[1], human brains evolved to be relatively more massive than would be expected based on corresponding body size.
This proportionally bigger brain[2] is what anthropologists...
Precision agriculture uses tools and technologies such as GPS and sensors to monitor, measure and respond to changes within a farm field in real time. This includes using artificial intelligence[1] technologies for tasks such as helping farmers apply pesticides only where and when they are needed.
However, precision agriculture has not been...
Read more https://theconversation.com/what-happens-when-ai-comes-to-the-cotton-fields-261526
From a distance, Biosphere 2[1] emerges from the cacti and creosote of the Sonoran desert like a gleaming oasis, a colony of glass and bright white structures. Despite being just outside Tucson, Arizona, it looks almost like a colony on another planet.
When one of the facility’s 100,000 annual visitors steps inside, they see a whole...