Afternoon Kitteh Ping.
It's morning somewhere.
Posted on 10/06/2018 2:02:35 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Pentagon research project called "Insect Allies." Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the project involves using gene-editing techniques like CRISPR to infect insects with modified viruses that could help make America's crops more resilient. If a cornfield were hit by an unexpected drought or suddenly exposed to a pathogen, for example, Insect Allies might deploy an army of aphids carrying a genetically modified virus to slow the corn plant's growth rate.
According to the DARPA website, these "targeted therapies" could take effect in a single growing season, potentially protecting the American crop system from food security threats like disease, flooding, frost and even "threats introduced by state or non-state actors.
… Insect Allies, is less concerned. "Anytime you're developing a new and revolutionary technology, there is that potential for [both offensive and defensive] capability," Bextine told The Washington Post. "But that is not what we are doing. We are delivering positive traits to plants… We want to make sure we ensure food security, because food security is national security in our eyes."
Insect Allies is still in the early stages of development, and at least four U.S. colleges (Boyce Thompson Institute, Penn State University, The Ohio State University and the University of Texas at Austin)have received funding to carry out research. Bextine told The Washington Post that the project recently achieved its first milestone — testing whether an aphid could infect a stalk of corn with a designer virus that caused fluorescence. According to the Washington Post, "the corn glowed."
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
Afternoon Kitteh Ping.
It's morning somewhere.
There is some white stuff falling outside the window.
And by ‘falling’ I mean moving primarily in a horizontal direction with a slightly vertical slant.
It was funnier for me because I worked for Greyhound when the song came out! He was such a talent! He and Roger Miller used to make up some excellent songs.
Well, in the excellent category I’d put “Yesterday, when I was young.” I’m not sure how much of that is actually the title. That song still brings a tear.
Although it might bring that tear because of the way I sing it. People cry when I sing my ABCs.
It is still warm and sunny, puffy white clouds are drifting across the sky and that white stuff on my lawn is just apple blossoms falling from the trees.
(No, I don't live in d'Nile but I do have a time share there.)
‘Tis good.
Maybe you had no snow this morning, but radar indicates you’ve got it now. It started here about an hour ago and now ground is white..
Now I'm imagining my great grandkids singing in pre-school.
Old MacDonald had a farm
E-I-E-I-O
And on his farm he had some cows
E-I-E-I-O
With an oink, oink here
And a woof, woof there
Here a cluck
There a baa
Everywhere a quack, quack.
Whirled peas was funny in the mid-60s along with Cheeses Priced!
My needs are simple. All I want is a dragon for my back yard, that eats grass and produces bio-fuel for my vehicles.
And provides air transportation for longer trips. Everybody should have a personal dragon.
Thank you and my best wishes to you and yours
Thank you
What's the difference between beer nuts and deer nuts?
Beer nuts are $1.39, and deer nuts are under a buck.
Since I had to venture forth into the inclement weather to remove some solidified glowbull warmthing from the porch to allow for free operation of the storm door, I decided to shove a length of collapsible measuring device into the white stuff.
Since the not-always-Accu(rate)Weather folk foreguessed we would get 2 - 4 inches my internal measurement estimator device was informing me that they were in error. Interpreting the etchings on the collapsible measuring device indicated that there was a current accumulation of 8” with more projected to fall.
But right now what is dropping from the sky are itsy bitsy ice balls..
Mushroom kitteh—so cute!
Thank you for Awed Pea kitteh!
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