SOIL MATES OPTIMIZING THE EARTH

摘要

Quick! how acidic is the dirt in your yard? Soil IQ knows. It's a little solar-powered sensor on a stick that assesses your plot, recommends what plants will grow best, and monitors them for you. If they need water or if the soil pH gets too low, you get a text. Think of it as the Internet of (Growing) Things. Nifty-and even niftier is that the Soil IQ has a humanitarian pedigree. It was born out of a project to build the Climate Kiln (above), a special oven created by US startup Rexhar that cooks inedible biomass like plant husks at low oxygen levels into charcoalish stuff called bio-char. Mixed into soil, it improves water retention and nutrient levels (and keeps fertilizer runoff out of groundwater and carbon out of the atmosphere).