Previous pages: Tucson, Arizona, USA, 2019
The dry climate of the Arizona desert in the USA helps prevent corrosion and weather damage to aircraft stored at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group in Tucson. In “The Boneyard” there are almost 4,400 decommissioned aircraft, which are dismantled to salvage parts or reassembled entirely. The most valuable components are dismantled and reused in the Air Force fleet, while the entire aircraft can be reassembled and returned to service. At the end of their life cycle, they can be scrapped for steel and aluminium recycling.
Above: Masdar City, 2019
Masdar is a carbon neutral smart city self-powered by alternative and sustainable energies. Focusing on sustainability and urban greenery, it is designed to accommodate up to 50,000 people and 1,500 companies. Designed by British architectural firm Foster and Partners to be bike friendly and mainly pedestrian friendly, the city has a temperature 10° lower than the surrounding desert thanks to a large wind tower capable of channelling fresh air currents through the city streets.
Above: The Netherlands, 2017
Ultra high-tech greenhouse under construction. Thanks to quality seeds, LED lighting, sensors and more, the greenhouse can produce ten times the amount per hectare as traditional farming methods, with about 90 per cent less water. In the next four decades, our planet will have to produce more food than farmers have harvested in the last 8,000 years. This is because by 2050 the Earth will be home to up to 10 billion people, compared to 7.8 billion today. Unless massive increases in agricultural yields are achieved, accompanied by massive decreases in the use of water and fossil fuels, a billion or more people could starve. Greenhouses could offer a solution to humanity’s future needs.
Following pages: Grindavik, Iceland, 2019
Geothermal energy warms this greenhouse in the lava fields of Grindavik, Iceland. Barley grown on inert volcanic pumice is genetically modified to produce epidermal growth factor (EGF), a protein that stimulates cell growth and is used in luxury cosmetics. EGF has a market value of $10,000 per gram.
Julien Deceroi self-implanted a magnet into his middle finger. He says it works like a new sense, allowing him to feel magnetic fields, including their amplitude or modulations. He also wears microchips. He is the only grinder I met in Switzerland. (Grinders are biohackers who demand total freedom for their bodies, which they enhance by operating on them themselves, often in extreme conditions.)
