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 have extra trash cans just in case.
We have the allotted receptacles that the Waste Management company deems necessary for the number of people living here and the amount we pay. In reality they over estimated and thus we are usually OK if we skip a weekly pickup. And with recyclables we could go three weeks especially if I make a lot of noise about people filling the container with plastic encapsulated air - usually in the form of unsquashed plastic water bottles.
If the weather prognostication for this time next week looks like a repeat of this week I will contemplate remedial steps. ;-)
Squeeful face on dat floof!
Good morning. My neck is still beating me up, even after a hot shower and some Aspercreme.
Wow. I thought I heard an emergency bell and opened the back door to see if I could narrow down the sound well enough to call 911. When I opened the door, the sound all but disappeared. I closed it and heard the noise again — coming from the water heater closet! LOL!
So much excitement for a Wednesday/MondayIII!
Good morning. It’s cold here. Your water heater pings?
No it was a constant ring, which is what the emergency bells do in these senior/disabled places. Just a constant ring until it’s shut off, either by a relative, neighbor or EMTs.
That’s why I opened the back door! LOL!
Now I’m off to Walmart and to get some gas in the truck and not necessarily in that order.
See you when I get back!
Good luck!
We live in the boondocks in not-the-wealthiest county in the state. We supply our own receptacles.
Thank you for lovely kitteh!
We have two large rolling bins for rubbish plus one for recycling. We used to have to pay extra for the second trash bin, but the town changed trash companies, and now we don’t.
Someday I hope to have a small enough household that we don’t need two trash bins.
Good morning!
Have we started again?
Seems like it.
I’m sure that you will!
I’m back. For a bit. I still have to get gas (the wind was too fierce and too stinkin’ cold to pump my own in the dark, even if the price has gone down again!) and the money order for my rent which irritates me no end. Its usually the first check I write on payday, and now I have to wait until 0800 for the two sources of customer service to open. I really do need to write that letter, because I get angrier as time goes by. Disabilities should not be punished in any way. Period. Not for any reason.
</ Rant
I stared at 12:34 this morning, and I don’t even meet with the lawyer until 10:30...
The one that always gets me off track is 3:14.
Pi. Pi in the morning. I never know what direction the day is likely to take.
Definitely time to write the letter. That whole situation was just absurd, whether a person has a disability or not.
We’ll have lunch soon, and then I have to pick Pat up at school, and then I’m going to get my hair cut.
I will do that. I’m not sure if I want to tell Chuck about it or not, and no doubt, I’ll need help with the final draft, but I’ve decided that February is the last month I will pay my rent with a MO.
And tomorrow, cold or not, I’m going to get my Utah DL! But I need to find out if they accept AmEx, but NV DMV doesn’t.
I also have to make sure there is enough for Beaker beak tweaking next week.
If Chuck was just following instructions from Higher Up, then he could be an ally. He could verify that you gave him a check backed by a deposit, but the amount had a minor error. You did not give him a check that wasn’t nsf.
Chuck was very apologetic, and when I explained to him what had happened with the dyslexia associated with CFIDS/ME, said again that he was sorry and that was the end of it for that day. But I told him I was not a happy person.
I went to get the MO and the gas, and when I got home, my pill alarm sounded and I said a few cuss words because I could have gotten my laundry money. But I’ll do it tomorrow. I’m at my limit for today and will not go out again. I can get the quarters on my way home from the DMV.
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