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 ...
Elvis, Steve Earle ... Dad likes this much better than Martin Valverde.
We mark the deaths of our parents as easily as we marked their birthdays. They are always in our hearts, and very frequently, someone will say or do something that brings to mind a loving memory of that parent.
I would toast to your father and to both my parents if I had something to toast them with. But I’ll just say, “Here’s to the love they gave us.”
Pumpkin pies! The mince pie is done, it smells delicious and looks amazing! Now all I have to do is wait for the rolls to raise enough for me to put them in the oven. I love the smell of home-baked breads!
(Thanks for making the pies, Tom the Son!)
Thank you for the beautiful and ferocious Thanksgiving kitteh!
Watch for claws reaching for your plate!
Since I was 17 when my dad died, about the only thing I know of his taste in music is that he liked to dance (Big Bands and earlier) and liked classical music. Sometimes, I think he was born too soon. Other times, I think he was born at just the right time to be my father. I could have done a lot worse!
Happy Thanksgiving, y’all!
Same to you, SG!
Alestorm. A pirate metal band. Getting a little weird here.
“I learned this step from Jim Beam!” my dad would say.
LOL! My dad, at time, led a small orchestra, and I think that’s how he met my mother.
She said he always played “The Lady In Red” when he saw her. It would seem red was her favorite color.
I don’t recall them drinking much. Maybe a little sherry at Christmas and some eggnog, of course.
Raley’s.
Most of the rewarming is oven, but there are a few items that only have microwave instructions.
Ratboy removed and replaced it while I was at work yesterday. He got the Black Friday sale’s price on the new one.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
Happy Thanksgiving, Airborne! I hope you and your family are well this year!
Once there was a gate, and the gate was good.
Then to this gate there came a bunny with a big wrench.
Howya, Darks!
And great sharp teeth.
Good for Ratboy! Clever like his dad, I see!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, Nully. Give Mom a hug from me!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, Airborne! I hope it’s a good day for all of you!
A query not necessarily related to Thanksgiving, but the answer is quite important for me.
I have a 5. cu. ft. freezer that will, of course, be going to Utah with me. The drive is 140 miles. I’m thinking the freezer should be unplugged at the last minute, and loaded last because I don’t want to give away the little bit of food that’s in it.
The question is: If it isn’t opened until it gets placed in my new apartment, how long will the food be good? I have some ribs and some ham hocks in there and if I have to I can give away the vegetables. I don’t want to. So will the food be safe for the maybe three hours the freezer is unplugged?
Anyone?
Should be. How long does it sit between times it’s running now?
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