…don’t ever go there
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The Doclopedia #2,029
Well, That’s Different: Tower Farms
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On Earth 1-K, farming and, to a somewhat lesser degree, ranching, underwent a massive revolution in 1974. That was the year Micheal DeBrea, Ethan Joong and Patty Rains patented their idea for a “tower farm”. Simply put, a tower farm is a multi-level, fully contained greenhouse. Water and air are recirculated from top to bottom with little loss of either on a daily basis. Since the climate is totally controllable, including light, the growing season is year round. There is no need for herbicides, fungicides, pesticides or chemical fertilizers. Everyone who enters goes through a three stage sterilization process. The only living creatures found inside a tower farm are brought in by the farmer. These usually include honeybees, earthworms, selected microorganisms in the soil and usually some form of poultry for the soil enriching manure.
The first tower farm was five stories high and covered 5 acres of land, totaling 25 acres of growing space. The farm raised tomatoes, peppers, squash and flowers. All year, in North Dakota. 10,000 farmers from all over the world toured it that first year. Within 2 years, there were 300 tower farms just like it in 11 countries. By 1984, that number had risen to 1,800 farms, some as tall as 10 stories with a 10 acre base.
Today (current year: 2034, almost no farming is done outside tower farms and things are being grown where they could not be grown before, such as avocados in the middle of Australia. Additionally, many tower farms are used to raise free range poultry of all sorts and some are used to raise pasture feed pigs, goats, sheep and even cattle.
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The Doclopedia #2,030
Well, That’s Different: Airships
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On Earth 3-G, fossil fuels started getting very hard to find around 1930. The price of gasoline, diesel and other fuels shot through the roof. The infant airline industry was pretty much stopped dead…except for airships. Zeppelins were still much cheaper to run, so they pretty much replaced airplanes.
Over the next couple of decades, without a World War II to interrupt things (No fuel, no war) airships underwent vast improvements and design changes. Some of the new technology, like better electric batteries for power, came from the automobile industry. Some designs took their cues from cruise ships and first class train travel. By the mid 1950s, travel by airship was safe, affordable and comfortable. Today (current year: 1990), airships are used for travel, transporting goods and scientific research.
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