I LOVE the TED talks!

This is all very cool. I'm looking forward to the next step, which is using the biological machinery to create things (sustainably) that don't exist in nature. Example; carbon fibers microscopically woven into whatever shape you want.

Our genomes are much more complex than even the most complicated structures and machines; how far off are we from writing a code into a dozen different bacterial strains and having the little guys assemble skyscrapers out of CO2 plus metals out of wastewater?

Not very far at all actually.

Life begets life, yep. Awesome. Translation; it's time to get off this rock and start growing skyscrapers all over the galactic neighborhood.

I'm a retired engineer. As far as I can recall we never used this type of thought process in design, but I can surely see applications for it. Maybe we could build our homes the same way the clam builds his shell.

Some of this technology may be available now and ready to put into practical use. But I think we still have to do some things the old way until better ways are developed. If someone can develop solar cells that assemble themselves, then I'm all for using that technology. But until that happens, if we want electricity now at reasonable prices, we need power plants that run on hydro, coal or nuclear. My choice would be nuclear.

but if you think about all the toxic wastelands created by government, take Alaska for example, or in the islands in Micronesia, they spend millions buying this stuff, then spend millions in cleaning it up via remediation ater they toxify the earth (burying chemicals and drums of waste). Doesn't make any sense. But others take direct orders. And taxpayers pay for it coming and goiing despite the social costs. Same thing with the Nuclear Reactor in Tri Cities WA.
No matter what example there is, there are people making millions and billions. These are the people that hate naturalists and environmentalists. These solutions will cut them out.

Kind of like Benton's thread on Chemicals being used to dumb down Americans, and the example of mercury in children's vaccinations. They say that 1 in 166 children now have autism. But for years the media reported that there was no cause and affect. There are answers in nature. But shooting kids up with mercury is insane. Let's hear it for worldwide pharmaceutical conspiracy.

Any comment on fluoride in the water? I saw this was a plan of Hitler.

and inspiring presentation. Her approach is so different from the combative mindset that seeks to do battle with nature and best it. Instead she looks at nature as an enormous lab where millions of years of experimentation have yielded perfect results. The solutions are already there, the challenge is coming up with methods to adapt and apply the solutions to our situation.

Favorite Quote:

"Not for lack of information but for lack of integration - people living in silos"

fascinating. Thx for that. That lady is ahead of her time. Great things are built upon with great ideas.
Consider the FCC narrowing media ownership.