[ExI] bees again

[spike]

-----Original Message-----
From: extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org
[mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of BillK
...
>...I think it is more complicated than it first appears.
Yes, the squash bee is native to the US and it pollinates squash plants very
well. In gardens they probably do fine, as the writer suggests.  But modern
farms can be hundreds of acres in size and farmers need to provide a
suitable environment for a large number of squash bees to nest in...
BillK
_______________________________________________

This is why I love hanging out here.  You guys are the best.  The analysis
is several layers deeper and more accurate than is often found elsewhere.

The emerging technology is in robots than roll over the fields 24/7 using
image recognition to identify the crop plants and spray just a little
fertilizer directly on that plant, identify the weeds and spray one little
shot of herbicide on that one weed, identify the bad bugs and zap it perhaps
with a laser, leave the good ones.  This means lower fertilizer and
pesticide bills, EXCELLENT! 

http://singularityhub.com/2012/09/19/lettuce-bot-rolls-through-crops-termina
tes-weeds-it-visually-identifies/

This approach would allow preparing a field without plowing the whole thing,
or perhaps plow just narrow rows, using far less energy, COOL!  It might
also allow the use of native ground-burrowing bees as opposed to just
honeybees.  I like both and I am always in favor of anything that makes for
more bugs in this world, so overrun as it is with mostly boring old mammals.

Of course next thing you know, these farmbots will try to organize a union.
Sooner or later, they will be outfitted with a speech generation chip and
they will start to argue that any speech they synthesize is covered under
the freedoms in the first amendment, regardless of the absurdity of the
nonsensical machine-generated babble they spew.

I still think this farmbot thing is wicked cool, and will likely invest in
one as soon as it hits the market.

spike