Submitted 1 year ago by cyu@sh.itjust.works to technology@lemmy.world
I feel like it would actually just be easier to make vertical growing factories for vegetables than do the same thing but worse by still growing the material, and then making them vegetable shaped.
Like, those cells will require the same nutrients and same growing conditions, and they naturally 3D print themselves into the shape of themselves.
Like, those cells will require the same nutrients and same growing conditions, and they naturally 3D print themselves into the shape of themselves.
They’ll also naturally use the nutrients and energy to 3D print stuff that’s not useful to humans, like leaves, roots, flowers, etc. Basically this is how vat grown vegetables, meat, etc, can potentially be more efficient than the typical approach.
Do we need to be more efficient? We have the resources to feed everyone on Earth and have leftovers we just aren’t allocating it correctly.
We could also increase efficiency even further by reducing meat/dairy consumption. Lab grown stuff feels like an over-engineered tech bro solution to a societal problem
Chain of production. Ask, where do the materials to “mimic the soil in the lab” are coming from? What are the required materials to manufacture the nutrients and substrate for plant cell reproduction? Contrary to our usual perception, lab materials aren’t magically put on shelves by lab faeries.
You’ll usually find that it is fossil fuels. Since we currently don’t have a way to mass produce nutrients with sustainable sources (specially ammonia as the source of nitrogen). They’re distilled from oil. Other nutrients are taken from other agricultural produce, that still need land and maintenance to be grown then processed into the materials to make the growth mediums. They’ll say that they will recycle and use produce refuse, but usually this is thrown away by industrialists because the thing is expensive and difficult to recycle from bad materials.
At the end, the cost reduce is usually just the product of pushing costs to atmospheric pollution. At a large scale with mass production, the net cost surges up again to the cost of just growing the damn carrot on the ground. Everything looks cheaper on the lab.
“Can be” is doing a lot of work in that title.
There are sound reasons to think that growing meat in the lab will eventually be more efficient than growing animals. You don’t have to support the metabolism of the whole animal and everything it eats. But lab grown vegetables? What’s the point?
It says exactly what the point is in the article: reducing dependence on imports when there’s not enough arable land to feed a population.
Urban farming is the way to go for that. Modern crop plants are really very efficient organisms. It is highly doubtful that lab growing cells (which is hardly free of overhead) will be able to compete with that.
I guess the point is to be able to grow it in a desert, but I think it without still be cheaper and easier to grow it indoors hydroponically… Unless maybe it uses less water? But hydroponics can recycle all the water used so I don’t think that’s a huge advantage.
Some of the water in hydroponics will be lost to evaporation, and some of it is also in the plant itself. With a good setup, you can probably recover a lot of the evaporated water, at least. Basically, think like a Fremen.
In this case, growing them in Qutar, where agricultural land is at a premium.
Nuclear fusion “can be” possible
I can’t believe that this is economically viable. Strange times.
Less than a dollar per kg! I think that’s honestly the most impressive part.
Carrots are 50 pence a kg right now. So it’s not very competitive. However, the current price probably relies on subsidies.
Carrots are fucking easy to grow. You can grow them through winter. I need to repair the domes on my planters but I had them year round for like 4 years until my dad adopted the local raccoons.
I hope it tastes better than the 2kg bag of carrots I had bough for yesterdays dinner. I peeled half of them, and each and every of it tasted like basically nothing. Except for the last I peeled, which was bitter.
At least they weren’t all bitter
Perchance this could mean we can get carrots of different shapes maybe a carrot shaped like …mm
Carrots with a proper flared base?
Carrots are going to be shaped adverts. It’s the invariable enshitfication, coming to your Sunday roast soon.
You’ve been able to shape fruit for basically it’s entire existence. Put a watermelon in a box while it’s growing and it comes out square. Put it in a Halloween skull and you’ll get a skull shaped melon
United Nations report, published in July, 735 million people are currently facing hunger
This silly way of bringing in the issue of world hunger, while it is still just a super small and super rich country where some students play with crazy technology.
Nobody is asking the important question: does it crunch when you eat it?
People trying to make a better carrot are very confused.
Today, carrots tomorrow, aubergines. Its a slippery slope
No, that was the prototype strawberry patch
Someone please explain to me how 3D printing vegetables could be cheaper or more efficient than just growing them?
You can stack printers, you can’t stack farms. Efficient for space, power is gonna be a stretch though.
Farms can be stacked. Ever heard of vertical farming?
Mmm giant cheeto
But does it cover your fingers in carrot dust? I need to know.
/nottheonion, but a carrot
But how are the carrot cells grown? Either using light or some kind of agricultural product I’m sure. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Literally in this case.
But how are the carrot cells grown?
Hint: the article tells it (to those who read it)…
Did you read it? It doesn’t explicitly answer my question.
Carrots grown in baby calf blood serum.
Anyone else craving Cheetos for some reason?
I was hoping for a turnip. I have a cunning plan…
Well, I know I am going to regret this but, Do go on, Baldric.
This ISN’T a joke? Gross. No thanks.
Square carrots would be much more efficient. They’d be easier to cut, too.
We’re getting real close to going full cyberpunk aren’t we?
we were there in 89 dude
americans only though
Cyberpunk 2077 future is coming closer (this is a bad thing).
Wake me up when I can try Orgiatic Omniflave
Reject lab grown foods, return to monke
The only advantage this has is you can make carrots into fun shapes. They’re not that hard to grow.
The research is from Qatar, I imagine it's a lot harder to grow enough carrots in sandy deserts and bedrock
I don't think that there's an immediate application for specifically making carrots, because I doubt that the economics work, but I can imagine a world where we manufacture a lot more food than we do today.
Blade Runner vibes
Add some gold around it, and you have a top tier food source right there!
artificial vegetable cells
TootSweet@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Why would I want my lab-grown carrots to be carrot shaped exactly? As someone who eats quite a lot of carrots, I’d rather have my lab-grown carrots be rectangular-prism shaped for easy stacking.
Deceptichum@kbin.social 1 year ago
Good luck inserting a rectangular-prism up your butthole.
eltimablo@kbin.social 1 year ago
Spoken like someone who clearly hasn't been practicing. Get gud.
Eylrid@lemmy.world 1 year ago
It goes in the square hole
snooggums@kbin.social 1 year ago
Wombats have joined the chat.
KnowledgeableNip@leminal.space 1 year ago
I don’t need luck, I’m a professional.
andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
Fits 3d printed ass just fine.
postmateDumbass@lemmy.world 1 year ago
No need to cut them up, just pop out sticks.
pavnilschanda@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I’d say a sense of continuity and familiarity. It’d be weird if you’re suddenly told to eat a cube that can fulfill all of your nutritional needs when you’ve been eating foods of variable shapes for so long.
TheLowestStone@lemmy.world 1 year ago
As someone who has diced, julienned, amd sliced thousands of pounds of carrots, let me assure you that most people are not eating carrot shaped carrots.
sorrybookbroke@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
I will eat the nutri-cube and I will like it. I am proud that we’re finally entering the sci-fi era of this dystopia
MyDearWatson616@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Cutting them changes their flavor. They’re not as good when you cut them.
SaintWacko@midwest.social 1 year ago
That makes zero sense.
…it’s absolutely true, though. Carrots are so much better eaten whole
Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 1 year ago
I like the yellow ones.
coffeebiscuit@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Squarerots ™
coffeebiscuit@lemmy.world 1 year ago
And better packing capabilities. Takes less room, fits more in a box = saving on transportation.
frezik@midwest.social 1 year ago
IIRC, freight companies tend to charge based on weight rather than size. That’s why designs for square liquid bottles have never taken off.
luciferofastora@lemmy.zip 1 year ago
Easier dicing too
TheCrispyDud@kbin.social 1 year ago
So Chunks from Starfield pretty much?
lightnsfw@reddthat.com 1 year ago
I want huge bugs bunny carrots
Num10ck@lemmy.world 1 year ago
pringles shaped carrots mmmm