Here’s my second favorite story gathered from the news today:

BBC News: Vertical farming in the big apple.

Here’s an excerpt:

Now though, scientists at Columbia University are proposing an alternative. Their vision of the future is one in which the skyline of New York and other cities include a new kind of skyscaper: the “vertical farm”.

The idea is simple enough. Imagine a 30-storey building with glass walls, topped off with a huge solar panel.

On each floor there would be giant planting beds, indoor fields in effect.

And more:

The plan is to make the whole complex sustainable.

Energy would come from a giant solar panel but there would also be incinerators which use the farm’s waste products for fuel. All of the water in the entire complex would be recycled.

My question is this: is this an example of thinking inside or outside the box?

I kid the vertical farm… but it does sound interesting, if not wildly expensive and therefore extremely unlikely.