Found this on insta and thought it belonged here
5 years ago by intheheart · 1060 Likes · 17 comments · Popular
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awake_ash
· 5 years ago
· FIRST
I will always be amazed at the progress Puebla has made this past few years (like 17), their universities are the best in México
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purplepumpkin
· 5 years ago
Not as pretty as a real tree but really efficient! Nice!
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internet
· 5 years ago
this is both amazing and depressing at the same time
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Edited 5 years ago
guest_
· 5 years ago
Welp- sorry Green Peace. It’s going to be a lot harder to argue to save the rainforest when you can’t tell people they need trees to breath anymore.
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marcus5
· 5 years ago
This is great, and I really don't want to come off as rude, but why is this theoretically better than say planting a tree. If anyone knows I would be genuinely interested to know.
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guest_
· 5 years ago
Honest answer- please don’t read it as negative in any way as I will speak somewhat flatly: one artificial “tree” of this type can perform the work of over 300 trees. That’s the first reason it may have an advantage to one tree. It’s much more compact than 300+ trees which makes it useful in places where space is at a premium. They can easily be spread around an area for optimal coverage where air quality is lowest- and controlled to filter more or less. They also can work places trees can’t like underground or in climates not favorable to trees. Unlike trees- they are almost self sustaining. They don’t require expending much of any water over the initial volume used to create them- with water being a previous resource- and in some places very precious.
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guest_
· 5 years ago
Such “artificial trees” can easily be placed on roof tops or other relatively unused and unobtrusive places where regular trees may be difficult or impossible to place along with the weight of the soil and water to support them. In that note- artificial trees mesh well with strategies of conservation and “green” living. Such trees can be mounted on roofs and paired with mirrored panels or solar panels to reduce heat and thus lessen the need for wasteful climate control, or even generate electricity. The algae in the trees produces bio mass- combinations of waste products and dead algae and the like- which could theoretically itself be collected and used as or refined for use as a fuel or other industrial needs.
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guest_
· 5 years ago
Now- to be clear I’m answering plainly and completely- I’m not pandering or by any means saying I am a proponent of these trees. Because...
guest_
· 5 years ago
These trees can serve as part of an “artificial ecosystem” but do not serve the “natural ecosystem” in the way a regular tree does. The initial cost to purchase a unit or equivalent measure of real trees is much higher with these “fake trees.” There are serious questions about unforeseen repercussions that any large scale use of these fake trees could have on the environment or climate in general. There are other questions too- trees can get sick, so can algae. But how resilient is the algae? What if any possible public health risks could there be? Could a sickness transmittable by algae or other aspect of this algae cause harm to other flora, fauna, animal life?
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guest_
· 5 years ago
There are questions about the air they produce, what if any long term effects it may have, etc. algae can often have a strong odor, it can trigger allergies- are these factors possible with these trees? Is there a possibility that long term exposure could raise risks of asthma, allergies, maybe even cancers etc? Could these pools attract certain dangerous fungus or other bacterial growth that could have similar concerns?
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guest_
· 5 years ago
I think- more than anything- the larger benefit of these over trees is that these are new. If we test them carefully in the real world we could gather data to tell us wether they are a real potential boon or bane- improve the design, find faults and limits. Long term- technology like this could enable long term space flight more easily, perhaps even colonization and terraforming of the moon or mars. But why? Well- here’s the kicker. We cant “save ourselves” by living on mars. If we have the technology to go to mars- it’s cheaper, easier, and safer to stay here and use that technology to “terraform” earth. What’s the difference between making one “unlivable” planet habitable vs another?
guest_
· 5 years ago
BUT- if we can develop the technology that would let us survive long term in space, terraform Mars- we could actually “save the earth” and undo the damage we’ve done- or mitigate it. So in one way or another- space really could be the key to the future of the human race. Things like this are a step in that direction. The thing about “green” technology is it’s a cheat you see.
guest_
· 5 years ago
We don’t need it. “Crazy” you say? Hear me out. If we all live in caves and don’t have phones or computers or medicine- and we have a 50-70% infant mortality rate- problem solved. But that doesn’t sound very good does it? Throw away all our technology and progress? “Green” technology isn’t about “saving the environment.” It’s about “saving the environment while allowing people to enjoy the modern standard of life and expanding it.”
guest_
· 5 years ago
Trees don’t quite fit the bill. They take a long time to grow, they take space we might use to farm or otherwise supply or house them ever growing billions of people on earth. We could “slow down” and let the population drop in half and then somehow regulate it- but that’s unlikely and sounds like it would be unpleasant. Same with capping things at 7 billion. The modern world needs an ever exponentially increasing population to function. So we either have to change our behavior drastically and globally- or engineer ways to keep behaving how we want at a growing demand.
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funkmasterrex
· 5 years ago
Long term space missions and domes on currently inhabitable places was what I thought of immediately as well. It doesn't have to be the Moon or Mars either. Having a human around for mining asteroids would also be very helpful, or just for something like a space station.
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rachee
· 5 years ago
feww i was kinda getting worried with the rain forest on fire and all but boom puebla has it covered. between drone bees and fake tree humans will be just fine in the end. hope some day we have the technology so our kids can go out and see a real live well not live animatronic whale or a beautiful herd of fake rhinos.
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guest
· 5 years ago
Thats awesome but can we please just plant trees :(
