Abstract: A controlled environment agriculture (CEA) solution that utilizes a planar layer of flowing air across an indoor crop tray or other planar surface containing crops. The flow of air is coupled with applications of fog. Crops include plants and fungi. The fog (e.g., via fogponics) delivers moisture and other embedded nutrients to a set of crops. In embodiments, the nutrients, moisture level, and temperature of the fog are adjusted for the optimized crop growth. Different laminar motions of air affect movement of different fog compositions. Thus, an indoor farming shelving unit, crop tray, etc., functions as tunable microenvironments, upon which divergent plants/fungi are grown.

Abstract: A composition for removing metal ions from aqueous solution is prepared by immobilizing metal ion-binding microorganisms such as algae, washing the immobilized microorganisms, drying the washed immobilized microorganisms and heating the dried immobilized microorganisms to a temperature of about 300.degree. to about 500.degree. C. for a time sufficient to provide a stable composition that is non-swelling in aqueous solution. The composition preferentially adsorbs precious metal ions from an aqueous solution containing concentrations of base metal ions and/or other dissolved materials several orders of magnitude greater than the concentration of the precious metal ions. The composition can also be used to extract precious metal ions from geothermal fluids.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for the selective extraction of the metals gold, silver, platinum or mercury ions or colloidal gold, from an aqueous solution containing at least one of these metal ions which comprises contacting the solution, at a pH of 2 or less, with cells or cell extracts of a microorganism capable of binding these metals for a period of time and under conditions sufficient to allow binding of the metals to the cells or cell extracts.

Abstract: The present invention comprises a simple multi-purpose on-line system for monitoring the concentration and/or the total amount of an organic analyte species or inorganic analyte species in an aqueous solution. The on-line detection system comprises a detection column and a sensor mounted around the detection column. The sensor consists of an electromagnetic radiation source (typically a light source) and an appropriate detector for the electromagnetic radiation. The response from the detector drives an electric circuit, which provides a signal to a recorder as well as a means to trip an alarm system and/or a process system.