Agriculture gets even smarter

The matter of growing enough food to feed the planet is a serious issue. Already, one in nine people lack sufficient sustenance, according to the United Nations--and the problem is only going to get worse. Mix a global population projected to reach 9 billion in 20 years, from 7.5 billion today, with drought and other effects of climate change, and a farm labor shortage in places like California, and there's a crisis in the making. Now a growing number of researchers and are turning to robotics to address the problem. Specifically, they're combining the sensing abilities of robots with data analysis made possible by artificial intelligence technology to improve farmers' ability to grow and manage their crops more intelligently.