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 ...
We get Friday off...
“The Paws of Furry—Stage 1”
I am generally here on Friday, but I am also, generally, off.
Then you should have been at the laundromat, because I’m sure they were all there. :o|
This week, NV will be celebrating Statehood Day on Friday the 26th, rather that the 31st. I still can’t figure out why they changed it.
Aren't we all, who reside in the Flying Castle?
:o])
Give State employees the Friday off, as opposed to a Wednesday holiday, for which they would skip half the week.
Well, my daughter has some friends from Germany who have told her that Kristallnacht occurred on some historical date that Germans celebrated (unification day or some-such). The Germans didn't want to look like they were celebrating Kristallnacht so they just moved their national celebration.
Maybe Nevadans didn't want to associate their celebration of statehood with the evil beings normally 'celebrated' on October 31? Especially now that Harry Reid isn't an official of the Nevada delegation to DC.
My bad. Thanks. I probably knew that, somewhere.
And the balance of the week to y’all!
You identify as ArGee; that’s all I need. (Well, I actually need a little more than that, but why quibble?)
“Ahhh, my evil plan has come to fruition (or ‘fruitition’ if you wanna quote Bon Jovi), and soon I will be Emperor of the Universe and anything else that really matters, bwahahahaha!”
Would y’all mind checking punctuation between parens? I miss my two usage texts and APA guidelines that got me relatively uneventfully through school. Moved here in 2008 and never finished unpacking. Would also like to find my good tweezers with scissor grip and good nail file. Gotta get on this. Also, all CD’s and DVD’s. The universe seems to be telling me something....
Commas outside the parentheses.
Barbara Bush has died.
Oh, my. That’s so sad. But I didn’t think she’d last too long.
I just voted! <3
:o])
So here I sit in a car in a Home Depot parking lot where I was aba doned by Son #2...
How usual. Or is it?
Cool. When you've done that, can you stop Daylight Savings Time? We have another change coming up and I'd LOVE it if it didn't happen.
Just let me know where to send the check.
There are some places, some not too far away, where you can be sheltered from Daylight Savings Time. As an aside, the Flying Castle and its associated Habitats do not observe Daylight Savings Time, nor is it utilized on Mercury, Earth's moon, Mars, or any of the Outer Planets (or moons).
Further parenthetical remark; Planet Venus does not observe Daylight Savings Time either, but for Gosh sake don't ask me to explain why.
So if I could, I’d move to AZ...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.