Walmart is going to use blockchain to stop the spread of E. coli and other diseases in lettuce

Vermont's passage of a law requiring food that is genetically modified to be labeled spurred action at the national level to create one standard, rather than a patchwork of state laws, that offers food companies several ways to label foods with GMOs. The national bill did eventually pass, but as this piece illustrates, no one seems very happy about it. Environmentalists feel it leaves large loopholes and while the food industry likes one standard, it does not like the stigma the GMO label confers.

Despite advancements in technology in most sectors of life leading to an increase to access of information about practically anything, little is still known about the ocean and its behavioral patterns. Liquid Robotics – a Silicon Valley-based company – is trying to change that. Engineers here have created the "Wave Glider," which essentially acts as a router within the ocean powered by wave energy and solar panels. This invention can transmit data on tectonic activity that has the potential to predict tsunamis.

Loveland Technologies is finding creative uses for data that will help protect people’s properties and disseminate better information about local tax and foreclosure policies. Funded by angel investors as well as nonprofit organizations, Loveland Technologies has already succeeded with clever campaigns to educate the public. It also initiated Motor City Mapping to create an information-sharing space for residents, service providers, and local governments.

Colorado is adapting a military technology to help crews fight wildfires. The Android Team Awareness Kit, or ATAK, was designed to keep Special Forces safe in combat zones by showing pilots their locations, and now firefighters will be able to use the free app on their phones to find where they are and assess what kind of fire they are seeing on the ground. Colorado is the only state allowed to tweak the app for use in fires, but the plan is to roll it out nationwide after modification.

Using data collection and visualization, apps like SafeCity, HarassMap, and #WalkFreely are crowdsourcing locations where individuals have been sexually harassed or assaulted so that others know to take precautions. Some operate on a global scale, others locally, but what they all offer is a platform for people to share their story and hopefully prevent it from happening again. Such apps have led to action from community members, the media, and officials who have taken notice of the high rates in certain places and taken action.

To enhance air travel, the F.A.A. rolled out a system that enables airplanes to fly closer together using GPS, rather than the traditional radar locators. But residents near these new flight paths have risen up to contest the air pollution created by the lower, more frequent flight patterns. With impending lawsuits, the F.A.A. has to work with local officials to create a joint solution.

Contact tracing apps have received a lot of attention since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, but researchers caution they should be used in conjunction with other tactics and not be relied on to help on their own. However, an early study has indicated that even when only fifteen percent of the population downloads a contact tracing app, infection rates are reduced by eight percent and deaths are reduced by six percent.

A growing number of governments, companies, and nonprofit organizations are working together with new technology and data to identify fishing vessels that are breaking laws and engaging in human rights violations. Using satellite imagery and tracking signals, for example, a philanthropic company and a nonprofit worked with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime to help the Ghanian navy arrest four vessels for illegal fishing practices. Technology by itself won’t stop forced labor and unregulated ships, but it can be helpful for cash-strapped governments looking to increase oversight of their fisheries.

A cheetah conservation project in South Africa has helped the cat population rebound over the years by securing them in wildlife reserves. The Cheetah Metapopulation Project started in 2011 when there were 217 cheetahs, but a decade later, there are now 419 across the reserves. While there is debate about whether the focus should be on the quantity of cheetahs or the quality of their enclosures, the project has been successful and they’re looking to share their cheetahs and conservation lessons with other countries.

Off the coast of Australia, the energy company Chevron is experimenting with new quarantine management techniques to ensure that any plants and pests don’t hitchhike to new places, which can devastate the global food economy. They’ve redesigned shipping containers to make it harder for insects to tag along and they’ve created a video game to train workers on how to be better at finding these pests in their inspections. Some creatures and plants can slip through the process, but these tools have been successful and could be used in other ways.