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 ...
Vlad is making cocoa.
yes that would be crazy!!!! hugs
I picked up a pack of 3-pods of cocoa yesterday, and want to have a cup before I leave here this morning.
When my son and his wife brought me up here last summer for James’ wedding we stopped at a Sinclair station outside Mesquite NV and they had an insulated mug on sale. That puppy will keep the insides hot enough to burn your tongue and the outside is cool enough to feel like there is no hot liquid in it.
I don’t keep my hot beverages around long enough for it to matter.
I want something warm while I’m driving in this cold morning air! I keep hoping that whatever is blocking the defroster will be jarred loose when I hit the bumps in the road on 200 West at speed. I don’t really want to give up the truck long enough for Casey to troubleshoot it and then have to pay for a fix!
Awwww, thank you!
Happy Friday Eve!
Busy morning. Cold day.
Happy Friday Eve!
Welp. I’m back. I had more documentation than the DMV needed, and it cost less than anticipated (because I’m a senior, she said,) but I failed the written test twice. I will go back next week. Evidently, I’m applying Nevada rules to the Utah test and it ain’t workin’! So I brought the book home and I don’t wonder that I failed — 8” X 11” X 3/8” of information.
The entire thing was very taxing, but I had several stops to make on the way home, so I’m worn to a frazzle. But tomorrow will be a day when nothing is done here except a shower. And the fine art of staying warm. ;o]
The worst I ever had to deal with was the traffic circles in New Hampshire translating to the roundabouts in Massachusetts. It turned out that NH was yield on entry, where MA was yield to those who are entering (or vice versa). Considering the number of people who commuted from NH down into MA, it’s amazing anyone ever survived those things.
And why were traffic circles ever invented in the first place? Did someone consult the Marquis de Sade?
Back from the dog walk and the dentist. I’m going to have a cup of tea, chop some onions, and then go to Walmart.
The roundabouts were in these tests as well, and I’ve never had to deal with them. Well, not Stateside, anyway. But I have no idea what the rules are in any state...you just be careful as you enter and leave, and hope everyone else is, too.
I’m pretty sure it was the Marquis de Sade. No one else is that evil.
At any rate, I’ll get most of it figured out before I go back next week. I only need to get 20 out of 25 right, so I’ll study!
I’ll have my tea when I go to bed this afternoon.
I didn’t think this experience would be so hard on me, but it has been and I hope its not like this next week. At least, next week, I won’t have stops to make on the way home!
Once I get my medical in place I need to get my eyes examined and get a referral for the ophthalmologist to have the cataract on my left eye removed.
It’s really bothering me.
For those keeping track, the temperature in Gotham has risen to a balmy 13 Fs from the 3 Fs I woke up to this morning.
It’s not that cold here. I wore my medium coat to Walmart instead of my Big Coat. Tom was in shorts and shower shoes.
And here in Utah’s Dixie, it’s a balmy 34°!
I wore my heavy coat this morning. The one with the hood that has faux fur trim. I need to mail a package to a birthday person, but it will have to wait until morning and she can just get it a day late! ;o]
That's not likely to work, but I often wonder if duct-taping a piece of garden hose to a vacuum cleaner, and assaulting the car's ductwork with it might be productive.
We are at 13 F’s now also. Last I looked before I went to bed it was -6.
They are foregnosticating a low of only -3 tonight. I’m sure it is due to anthropogenic climate change..
It’s because you’re breathing.
Boom, 4k!
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