Engineering eye... April 2016

News, rumours and gossip from the world of engineering

Ever thought that Nasa would move from space travel into potato farming? No? Well, think again. Scientists at the organisation are taking a leaf out of the book-turned-film The Martian, in which a stranded astronaut survives on Mars by growing potatoes. Teaming up with the Peru-based International Potato Centre, Nasa will test whether the hardy, tasty tuber, which is rich in vitamin C, iron and zinc, can be grown in Mars-like conditions. The hope is to create potatoes that can survive harsh climates on earth to help fight malnutrition, lift people out of poverty and increase global food security. Nasa also hopes to pioneer ‘space farming’ for future manned missions to other planets. Scientists are developing replica Mars soil in the world’s oldest desert, the Atacama in Peru, which closely resembles the surface of the Red Planet. Send your space farmer applications to Nasa now.

The humble pigeon has recently helped to highlight air pollution in our capital. In March, a fleet of London pigeons, dubbed the Pigeon Air Control, took to the skies equipped with nifty sensor backpacks to monitor the city’s high levels of pollution. Disappointingly, the project is being undertaken not by industrious pigeons on behalf of humankind, but by Plume Labs, a start-up running a crowdfunding campaign for the Plume sensor – a wearable air-quality monitor. Over the three-day project, Londoners were asked to tweet their area to

@PigeonAir and were then told how toxic the air was there. Let’s hope that government co-operates soon by creating legislation to crack down on air pollution.

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