What kills Arctic explorers? You’d think it would be cold, followed by lack of food — but the ironic thing about the Franklin Expedition of 1845 is that the very technology that made ambitious exploration possible, canned food, was also what might have poisoned everyone aboard.
That’s one of the key lessons we’ve stumbled upon during our future of food month: We can save ourselves from starvation on a global scale, but often only at the cost of some other horror down the line. (Climate change, we’re looking at you.) Maybe you disagree? As always, let me know: ian@howwegettonext.com.
Why Did Hundreds of Arctic Explorers Disappear Without a Trace?
Richard Baguley, How We Get To Next
When you expect a trip will last several years, canned food seems like a good option. These 19th-century explorers thought so. But the decision could have been lethal. [9-minute read]
Clone Animals, Feed the World?
Matt Locke, How We Get To Next
Imagine one million identical cows, all with the same markings, in a Chinese pasture somewhere. Cloned meat to feed you. Take a bite out of that. [5-minute read]
Firefighting Robots and Their Farming Siblings
Vas Panagiotopoulos, How We Get To Next
Spotting forest fires is a dull and difficult task. So, a Hong Kong-based startup built robots that can do it more effectively and reliably than any human. (Their expertise is now being applied to farming, too.) [4-minute read]
China Is Building the World’s Largest Animal Cloning Factory
Duncan Geere, How We Get To Next
Plus, residents in a Siberian coal town are being offered “the wealth of the region” to fight an obesity epidemic. Translation: Lose weight, get a lump of coal. This, and more, in our weekly roundup of world news. [3-minute read]
I Let IBM’s Robot Chef Tell Me What to Cook for a Week
Matt O’Leary, How We Get To Next
IBM’s Chef Watson creates recipes based on what’s in your fridge. We took it for a one-week test drive, and the results were delicious. [12-minute read]
The Space Doctor’s Big Idea
Randall Munroe, The New Yorker
“There once was a doctor with cool white hair. He was well known because he came up with some important ideas … ” Creator of the web comic XKCD explains Einstein’s theory of relativity using only the thousand most common words in the English language. [10-minute read]
Making Money Grow on Trees
Sam Knight, The Guardian
A cutting-edge project to fight climate change by ending deforestation is being pioneered in one of the most remote, undeveloped countries on Earth. Can it succeed? [35-minute read]
Places You Can No Longer Go
Lucas Adams, Atlas Obscura
In 1975, Japan built a huge floating city inspired by concepts of self-sufficiency and livability. The aquapolis experiment failed miserably and was sold for scrap metal in 2000. [1-minute read]
Delivering the Future
Lars Eriksen, The Guardian
In Gothenburg, Sweden, all the main shopping streets are pedestrianized and inaccessible by truck. Instead, electric cars and cargo bikes deliver goods to more than 500 businesses, cutting 30 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. [4-minute read]
A Short History of MSG
Alex Renton, Gastronomica
MSG is part of our culture, but where did it come from and does it deserve to be so vilified? Take a look at the origins of the flavor enhancer and how it infiltrated the global food system. [15-minute read]
