SUSTAINABILITY  

Sunflowers grown by drones

A farm in Queensland, Australia, could be home to the first flower in the world planted by a drone. As part of an experiment, drone pilot and farmer Roger Woods deposits tens of thousands of sunflower seeds using a single, aerial drone. The unmanned aircraft distributes 45,000 seeds per hectare with the aim of sprouting 30,000 plants. This drone technique is already used for crops like barley, lucerne (alfalfa) and wheat, but many were sceptical it would work for sunflowers. The experiment is now in full bloom, drawing in tourists from all over to enjoy the photo opportunity and learn more about modern, non-invasive farming practices. Farmers say the technique is less invasive than traditional planting methods as it creates less soil disturbance and they're hopeful other growers will soon adopt the technology. Using drones in modern farming is becoming a common practice, and the technology carries a lot of potential when it comes to saving the environment. Drones also helped scientists save endangered species such as sea turtles and helped save koalas after the Australian bushfires in 2020.

INNOVATION

Learning apolitically 

London-based startup Apolitical is taking an interesting twist on helping governments level up with tech: they’re building a learning platform for government employees. A key focus is climate change; the team is building courses on things like net zero, decarbonising buildings, pricing carbon and carbon sequestration. The team has just raised a £5 million Series A round, and is part of a growing number of companies building products and services for governments — a sector known as govtech. Through Apolitical, people share information through articles, Q&As and online conversations, and the platform makes money from short, proprietary courses. The founders are also determined to have the platform facilitate an equal exchange of knowledge between different parts of the world, and not turn into the global north exporting policies to the global south. An example of this is Bhubaneshwar in India, where they involved children in redesigning public spaces to maximise their safety, a strategy now being taken up in other places around the world.

THE LOW DOWN

• Destruction of unsold goods could be banned in Scotland
• Uber to fund 700 EV charging point installations across London
• EU accelerates plans to phase out Russian gas
• Northern Ireland's first climate change laws approved
• Environmental activists disrupt Bafta red carpet in London
• Crucial COP15 biodiversity summit set to be delayed a fourth time

#ShowerThoughts

• If you own a nuclear bunker you’d need to stay within a 10 mile radius at all times for it to be worth it.
• People who are 20 years old have lived 10% of their life through COVlD.
• Batman can only work at night because otherwise Bruce Wayne would have tan lines on his face.
• The princess who kissed the frog may have hallucinated that it turned into a prince. We don’t know what type of frog that was.
• We’re all NPCs for each other.
  
  r/Showerthoughts

#RiddleMeThis

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Sweet Talk - Saint Motel

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