Agriculture This Week: The advancements of tech leaves one in awe

YORKTON - Everyday I find myself amazed by one online post, or another detailing the advancements science makes every day.

One post details how Mercedes-Benz is developing a new type of solar paint. The photovoltaic coating can apparently generate enough energy to power a car for up to 12,000 kilometres annually under ideal conditions.

This sort of development could be a major game changer in terms of electric vehicles, as it would reduce the need to plug in to recharge. Imagine pulling into an average parking lot, and the sun basically recharging your vehicle as you shop.

And, it is not difficult to see uses on the farm.

Another post is a video on Google introducing self-driving bikes in Amsterdam.

The video footage is amazing, a bicycle that is essentially self-driving. It’s something one finds difficult to comprehend, a bike not just tipping over sans a rider, but it is equally easy to appreciate what such a tech/science break through can mean.

Then in Milan the exterior of a high-rise building has been transformed into a platform for trees – basically growing on balconies at every level. It was suggested in the video the plant life growing on the building’s exterior equalled three hectares of forests.

Imagine what a forward-thinking city might look like in the years ahead if such a design were mandatory on new builds.

In terms of food production it could be huge.

And there are regular drops on the Internet about advancements in robotics.

The units shown are again amazing, but what is really interesting is to think about the next generation robots already in development, but unseen by the public, and what is on the drawing board as new advancements push to potential of creation.

On the farm robots are certainly part of the sector’s future.

Now some of course will throw an exclamation mark of concern on developments – worrying they go too far, or seeing nefarious uses for the advancements.

Certainly we need caution, but not necessarily in the science as it merely opens doors to new possibilities.

It will not be the scientists that take new developments down darker paths.

The splitting of the atom opened many positive doors, and of course led to the eventual creation of the atomic bombs that devastated the civilian populations of two Japanese cities.

But it was the military complex which took the initial science down that darker path, the science simply existing for humankind to develop as it sees fit.

Ultimately science is simply discovery, and if there is a fear associated with such discoveries, it comes from humanity’s willingness to use it in ways which are not always positive.

But still the wonder of each new advancement is about how it may make our future better, and fosters a hope of what is to come.