The military is in the midst of a $100,000-project to grow hydroponic vegetables on submarines, says The Christian Science Monitor. So far the experiments have been on land, but researchers are hopeful that they’ll soon be able to take the technology to sea and improve the notoriously tired fare served to sailors. The plants are grown vertically in order to make the best of the limited space on board, and high-efficiency LED lights are used.
Similar agricultural experiments have been underway 200 miles above Earth at the International Space Station since 2002. “If we’re ever going to go to Mars someday, and we will, we’re going to need a spacecraft that is much more sustainable,” Scott Kelly, an astronaut at the station, told The Guardian. “Having the ability for us to grow our own food is a big step in that direction.”
Speaking of unusual farming conditions, off the Italian coast, scuba divers are growing plants in protected pods a half-mile under water. By desalinating the water before it reaches the young crops, the group, which calls itself Nemo’s Garden, says it can produce food more efficiently than on land.