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 ...
Yay, Vlad!!!
Congratulations to Vlad! He will no doubt go far in this world!
Hmmm...where did I see that before?
*tagline*
“He followed me home from the party, Mom!”
Floofy squees!
Good morning. Its raining. It started raining yesterday and rained all night. When I got up a little after 0300, I opened the door because I thought I heard rain on the roof. (I never heard it in Henderson, for some reason.)
Now I’m very glad I covered the cooler vent!
But I got up to a real living room! It’s amazing what a pair of curtain panels can do for one’s comfort! The ones in the kitchen look good too, but I’ll have to change the ones in the bedroom. They have the hugh grommets for the curtain rod and they just don’t hang right.
Payday. I hope.
One thing I suspected but didn’t realize was true for sure until this morning was that this place was given “a lick and a promise” when it was “cleaned” prior to my move-in. So room by room, I’ll go through and clean it. I’ve done it before, but not in recent history. GAH!
The video of that (or one similar) is really funny, and shows the mountain lion reaching for the house cat at one point, as if recognizing a cousin.
Great pic! Thanks!
Best wishes on your cleaning!
Elen was texting DP last night because she and some other women were at the gym, but weren’t sure what to do. GAH. Using the phone with which she was texting, she could have Googled “Basic Strength Training Plan” and done whatever activities matched the equipment they had available.
Still, it made him happy to be considered an expert! She said she and some other Marines will be going hiking in the desert today. I told him to tell her I said, “Go to church first!”
The cougar’s expression looks like the face Lucille Ball used to make—let’s call them Lucy and Ethel.
Thank you for the snuggles!
They are enjoying a sunny day in Italy.
Good idea! I'm going today for the first time in a while, the reasons, of course, are behind me. Not sure how it will go, as its the new two-hour block of meetings, rather than the three-hour, which had been in place since 1980. But we'll see how I feel by the time the first meeting is over.
A lot will depend on the pain level. I'll be taking my last morphine of the day in a few minutes and if there is breakthrough pain, it will be hard to concentrate. But like I said, I'll see how I feel at the end of the first meeting.
Beautiful! Would you please identify?
I hope the two hours of meetings rather than three will be easier for you. Best wishes!
Hoo boy. My first day, and I was treated to a Stake Conference, which happens every six months. Normally, I really look forward to them because they often have “general authorities” from SLC. Today was no different. Except I didn’t know it was going to be a Stake Conference. They normally start at 1000 and last two hours, so I was there approximately 0840, and had to sit for an hour plus waiting for things to start.
Today, they changed the Ward boundaries and added a new Stake, and I was there until shortly after noon. I met a few people from different wards and the lady that sat beside me said her grandson had served his mission in Bakersfield at the same time James was there on his mission! She was from another ward.
And did I tell you it was raining? About 1110, I was beginning to feel the pain creep back (I had to stand at one point, and that was my first clue) but my feet had begun to swell because I was tied to the chair or I would lose it. Truly, because it was SRO!
I decided to come home. Nope. The BB SUV didn’t want to. The engine just groaned and whimpered, and never did turn over, so I’m thinking the battery needs to be replaced, and called AAA for a jump. Nope. Not the battery. So that driver called for a tow truck, and I sat in my truck, listening to the rain on the roof, and tried not to look at my watch.
The tow truck got there just as the meeting was letting out, and for just coming out of church, they were a rude bunch. The tow truck was facing into the parking lot and of course, everyone was trying to come out. He managed to get it up on the flatbed, and someone in a pickup truck pulled in front of him — nose to nose. How he expected the tow truck to get out of his way is beyond me. No one wanted to give him room, or allow me to crawl up into the cab of the tow truck (in heels and a skirt,) so he just backed out. That made some people a little upset.
However, he said he’d lived here most of his life and he knew a mechanic that was good when it came to Geos, and just about that time, one of my neighbors came over, introduced himself, and agreed with the tow truck driver that the mechanic he suggested was very good.
So tomorrow, I’ll call and see what he’ll charge to troubleshoot the truck. Of course, all I can think of is Beaker’s spendy appointment Wednesday, the cost of the would-be mechanic and my power bill which I don’t have, yet. Yepper. No one can ever accuse me of leading a boring life!
And oh, yes, ArGee, when I walked in the door at home, MIB was on the TV!! (I forgot to put that in the previous post!)
Maybe this is all the bad stuff that will happen for a long while.
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