All articles tagged with #weeding
Aigen has developed solar-powered AI robots called Element that automate weeding in farms, aiming to reduce chemical use, address labor shortages, and promote environmentally friendly farming practices, with potential to revolutionize agriculture.
Scientists propose genetically engineering crops to be colorful in order to aid in weeding and reduce the need for pesticides, as it would make it easier to distinguish them from weeds. This is particularly important as climate-resistant "weeds" are being considered for food production in the future. By altering the crops' genomes to express pigments such as anthocyanins or carotenoids, they could be visually distinctive and easily identified by robot weeders, addressing the challenge of distinguishing new crops from their wild counterparts.
Fungus farming ants maintain their underground fungal farms by weeding out diseased fungus. Scientists have discovered that ants identify the health of their fungal farms through an intriguing sense of smell, detecting specific chemicals named peptaibols. The ants' weeding activity is triggered by the entire suite of these chemicals, rather than a specific peptaibol. This study uncovers a rare and fascinating phenomenon where an animal reacts to a disease afflicting its symbiotic partner rather than its own body, termed an 'extended defense response'.