CodeBotics

Aaruush, Chennai | SuperpowEARTH

Regeneron - An Updated Earth

High-Level Project Summary

My project is Regeneron. It symbolises Earth as an Octopus because Octopuses have the ability to regenerate and update their body parts. It’s tentacles are surrounding each of the forces I want the Earth to regenerate.It is important because this generation is destroying the Earth leaving the next generation with a deserted wasteland of nothingness. They should not have to deal with this. So if Regeneron fixes the problems we have right now, the future can focus on better things for innovation.

Link to Project "Demo"

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1V8C9js2dLyATPPBF95GPPH3-YOZjZwkC/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115544301769301274257&rtpof=true&sd=true

Link to Final Project

https://youtu.be/UY1rHKSlfY0

Detailed Project Description

As part of the school curriculum, I did a project called “How does green economy/technology contribute towards sustainability?”. While I was doing research, I came upon two things:

“Tamil Nadu ditches plan to buy 525 electric-buses”

Now Tamil Nadu, India is where I live. This article stated that this was due to the huge cost and it was difficult to replace batteries.

“Sri Lanka’s ban on chemical fertilisers aggravates food shortages”

Sri Lanka is my neighbouring country. They wanted to go organic, while the quality improved, the quantity of production dropped. Food prices skyrocketed and chemical fertilizer was sold on the black market.

It made me realize that sustainability cannot be at the cost of countries going broke. The adult generation has polluted the land, sea and sky. The next generation has to deal with all THAT while the previous, happy generations are up in heaven, watching it like a movie.

But, save we must!

We want a clean slate so we can start over and manage better.

I want the existing problems to vanish and the Earth to be able to heal itself. So I created Regeneron! Earth’s new superpower to repair and restore and update!!! These are the categories I feel need a quick action. Water clean up, Food Security, Atmosphere( pollution), Sustainable Shelter, Energy ( renewable and non -renewable), Afforestation, Ozone Fix-up and Space debris clean up

Using the concept of Biomimicry, I have visualised Earth in the form of a giant Octopus. Octopi have the ability to regenerate their body parts, and that's the superpower I want Earth to have...Regeneration!

Each tentacle of the Octopus , Regeneron does the following activity:

Food Security:

Food security is defined as all people, at all times, having physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food for an active and healthy life. Food insecurity exists when any of these factors is impeded. Climate extremes and global environmental change influence food production and the well-being of agricultural communities in complex ways that are challenging. Regeneron will, using data about earth, create optimum food production.

Water :

Many rivers, estuaries, lakes, ponds and other water bodies across the globe are victims of urbanization and are polluted beyond their self-recovery capacity. Uncontrolled dumping of garbage, debris and sewage into water bodies leads to an influx of various pollutants including organic compounds, phosphates and nitrates, thereby adversely impacting the water quality. Using the concept of bioremediation, Regeneron will restore the water bodies to its original clean state so the next generation can start on a clean slate. Bioremediation is the use of microbes to clean up contaminated water.

Atmosphere:

Restoring clean air is the next activity of Regeneron. Air pollution is the most pressing environmental health crisis in the world. It is responsible for more than 6.5 million deaths annually. In addition to health hazards, air pollution is a threat to the region’s economy, food and water security, and climate systems. This hampers the region’s efforts to grow sustainably.

Sustainable Shelter:

With the exploding population on Earth, we need enough resources to shelter them but in a sustainable way. What better than my Regeneron to come up with sustainable ways to build homes using green technology. Sustainable Shelter practices environmentally responsible building principles by utilizing and promoting the use of recycled and sustainable building materials, energy efficient designs and equipment, photovoltaic systems and native plant landscapes. Sustainable Shelter is dedicated to building efficient, fine quality homes for a healthy living environment

Energy (renewable and non -renewable):

Different energy sources have different effects on the environment. Resource extraction could make it impossible to use the land for other purposes [surface mining, drilling pads, windmills, solar panels]. Fossil fuel resources can pollute the atmosphere. Disposing waste can contaminate land and groundwater [natural gas, nuclear].) Regeneron will repair and restore the resources and create new avenues for energy for the future.

Afforestation:

We have practically destroyed the forests and lands with indiscriminate usage. If we ever have to have a chance of survival , I would need my Regeneron to stabilise the forest resources. Afforestation/reforestation is an effective technology to reverse land degradation and rehabilitate degraded land, and is an effective climate change mitigation strategy. Changes in land use through afforestation could lead to a gradual accumulation of soil organic Carbon (SOC). High SOC accumulation is most likely when converting from cropland or when restoring severely degraded land.

Ozone Fix-up:

Rebuilding the ozone layer is one of the immediate issues facing Earth. For stopping global warming the Regeneron would fix up the ozone and restore it to shape so that using technology we could safeguard it with better practices.

Ozone is a form of oxygen. In the stratosphere, around 25 km above the Earth’s surface, there is a layer of ozone that absorbs ultraviolet light from the Sun. Ultraviolet light is known to cause skin cancer in humans, and to damage plants. The ozone layer forms a protective shield around the Earth, and without it most life on Earth would not be likely to survive.

Space debris clean up:

The legacy of more than 50 years of human space faring has brought impressive technical and scientific achievements; however, it has also led to the growing population of space debris. These objects serve no useful purpose in space, but instead place man, the Earth, and useful space objects at risk. Regeneron would provide a clean slate for future innovations by cleaning up the technology.

I used Minecraft to build my model of Regeneron in the Octopus form.

Space Agency Data

https://climatekids.nasa.gov/

To get an idea of the broad categories of problem areas facing earth as regards sustainability, this site was very useful

Hackathon Journey

Minecraft is my most favorite application. I am glad that I thought of innovatively using it to create a model for this Space app challenge. I love building new things and I am very creative. And the idea of using Octopus as a symbol of Earth , I thought suited well for this project.

I have been learning about SDG in school and have done a couple of projects too. So it was only natural that I chose something about sustainability.

I feel what I have done is a very theoretical model. I would have with enough time liked to work on the technology of how my ideas can actually be implemented. May be I will research more about working models and figure out a way out.