Archinect - News

“There are almost no women” working in the geoengineering field

2019-12-21T09:00:00-05:00

As scientists continue to advocate for further development of [geoengineering] technologies, the field’s demographics are drawing more scrutiny. Some researchers argue the lack of diversity affects both which geoengineering projects get discussed [...] and how their risks get calculated.

In a recent article, Wired writer Sarah Sax dives into the troubling demographics of the White male-dominated geoengineering field, a largely theoretical research program with the potential for global impacts, both anticipated and unforeseen.

Explaining how the monocultural makeup of the world's geoengineering scientists might impact—and bias—their research, Sax writes, "Because the only way to test these interventions is to deploy them, much of the science of geoengineering remains hypothetical. But even that is problematic."

As Jack Stilgoe, a sociologist at University College London, tells Sax, “We can’t do risk assessments because we have no idea of the technology; It is still in the realm of the imagination. But what is imagined is actually really important. And who does that imagining really impacts the material outcomes.”

In a watery future, will islands build themselves?

2019-07-12T10:22:00-04:00

MIT’s Self Assembly Lab and Maldives-based Invena have unveiled Growing Islands, a provocative underwater structural system that redirects wave energy and sand accumulation flows to build new islands and help rebuild existing beaches ravaged by rising sea levels.

Diagram showcasing the basic conceptual approach behind the approach. Image courtesy of Self-Assembly Lab, MIT Sarah Yasmin Dole, Hassan Maahee Ahmed Maniku.

The decidedly low-tech scheme deploys a series of submerged concrete ramps to create turbulent eddies along the ocean floor that can generate the conditions necessary for sediment deposit. Over time, the designers argue, sediment will build up enough to potentially offset some of the effects of rising sea levels on island and coastal environments.

In a statement announcing the project, MIT researchers said, "We are designing, building, and deploying, submersible devices that, based simply on their geometry and orientation, can function as adaptable artificial reefs."...

The scientists trying to assist evolution and breed "super-coral"

2016-04-15T12:47:00-04:00

“A lot of people want to go back to something,” [said Ruth Gates]. “They think, If we just stop doing things, maybe the reef will come back to what it was. [...] Our project is acknowledging that a future is coming where nature is no longer fully natural.” [...] The power of selective breeding is all around us. Dogs, cats, cows, chickens, pigs [...] But the super-coral project pushes into new territory. Already there’s a term for this sort of effort: assisted evolution.

“'In the food supply, in our pets, you name it—everywhere you turn, selectively bred stuff appears,' Gates observed. 'For some reason, in the framework of conservation—or an ecosystem that would be preserved by conservation—it seems like a radical idea. But it’s not like we’ve invented something new. It’s hilarious, really, when you think about it.'”

As the world heats up, seas begin to rise, and farmland goes dry, our inherited ideas of "nature" are put under pressure. Here's some Archinect-exclusive features on unnatural nature and other aspects of life in the Anthropocene:

New satellite images show progress in China's island-building project

2015-07-01T14:19:00-04:00

New satellite imagery of remote islands in the South China Sea shows several Chinese island-building projects are finished. In five of seven island projects, attention has turned to the next phase: building bases with potential military uses on the islands.

Taking a cue from the Gulf states, China has been engaged in a massive island-building project in the South China Sea. New images from the Washington Post show the staggering progress that is being made, with the first buildings cropping up. While relatively small, the South China Sea is one of the most important shipping channels in the world – and may also hold a massive reserve of oil and gas deposits. Control of the waterway has become a source of increasing geopolitical tension in the region and internationally, with the United States and other countries asking China to cease island-building operations. But according to the Chinese, the artificial islands are a legal expression of their sovereignty.

While artificial islands may seem incredibly modern – if not downright sci-fi – there's evidence that humans have been doing it for some time now. The massive Aztec city of Tenochtitlan largely consisted of artificial islands, or chinamitl, surrounding a smaller natural island in Lak...

Could scientists engineer synthetic organisms to stop climate change?

2015-04-08T14:12:00-04:00

Scientists and politicians the world over are looking for ways to halt or reverse [climate changes], a task that is fraught with difficulties in a world hooked on fossil fuels. One option increasingly discussed is terraforming—deliberately altering the environment in a way that cools the planet... Instead of creating global engineering projects, why not create life forms that do a similar job instead...

Ricard Sole and his associates at the ICREA-Complex Systems Lab in Barcelona are experimenting with the potentials of using synthetic organisms to terraform the planet. One advantage to such a project – as opposed to other terraforming ideas that would require engineering feats of unprecedented scale – is that the landscape could be changed with minimal human input, using "the growth and colonizing potential that life offers."

Of course, as the article notes, the potential problems are also massive, like, for example, unintentionally triggering feedback mechanisms that accelerate global warming, or devastate global food supplies. Looking back at other historical attempts to engineer biology to suit human interests, this seems a more likely outcome than not. But Sole and his team are trying to develop preventative measures against such runaway growth. And as the article notes, one day this may be an urgent necessity: "if and when that day comes, let’s hope we’ll be glad of the researc...

Can cloud-seeding clear Singapore's skies?

2014-09-17T12:15:00-04:00

Indonesia is preparing cloud-seeding operations in an effort to combat a haze of air pollution blanketing neighbouring Singapore. Pollution levels were "moderate" levels on Tuesday morning, according to the pollution standard index, a day after hitting "unhealthy" levels. The worst affected parts of the island are in the west and closest to Indonesia. The haze has become an annual event in this part of Southeast Asia, as farmers illegally burn forest or plantation areas to clear land.

Scientists Propose Using Lasers to Fight Global Warming

2014-08-24T23:21:00-04:00

At the world's first major geoengineering conference, two separate scientists put forward proposals to use lasers to modify the Earth's climate and fight global warming, from space. One suggested that a satellite equipped with a high-powered laser could grow clouds in the atmosphere below; the other proposed lasers that would blast greenhouse gases from orbit to effectively erase the agents of climate change.

For those unaware, geoengineering, in this context, refers to large-scale, intentional interventions in the Earth's climate, particularly towards the end of fighting global warming. There are two main categories of proposed technologies: carbon-dioxide removal and solar radiation management. In general, many in the scientific community and general public reject most proposed geoengineering projects for various technical reasons, as well as feasibility, cost, and their potentially devastating repercussions. Moreover, one could contend that the hubris behind the idea that humans can tinker with delicate systems that we don't fully understand is exactly what got us in this "mess." On the other hand, the other two ways to potentially combat climate change or reduce future devastation – mitigation and adaptation – aren't exactly going accordingly to plan.

While generally sounding more like science fiction than reality, weather manipulation has actually been going on for decades although ...