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 ...
Well, I’m certain that you need desert smarts to survive in the desert.
Air conditioning is good, too.
FORTRAN can’t handle today’s bionics because it doesn’t have threading capability.
Unless, of course, all you want your knee to do is bend.
Titanium for sure. Not sure about what kind of plastics.
Artificial knees don't bend sideways at all. So it's not a full replacement of function, but it should last the rest of your life.
I bet it won't Rust either..
On that subject, bending without assorted clicks, creaks, and pops accompanied by the occasional folding up like an improperly lowered and locked landing gear would be a good thing.. ;-)
See #3546.
Assuming that the artificial variety does not come standard with built in sound effects and the accompanying features mentioned it would be an improvement..
In that case just be sure to endure all the recovery procedures as recommended, especially after the second operation. My advice is to take no shortcuts.
What?
(Overnighters have all the fun conversations.)
Good morning. I’m up.
Oooohhh, floofy!!
Where does today’s floofy reign?
Good morning. I’ve had my shower and realized I need to buy a new blow dryer. I’ve had this one at least 20 years, and I’ve never used it on High, which is probably why it hasn’t burned up. I can see a solid layer of lint on the screen between the air intake holes and the motor, and I’m afraid each time I plug it in, that it will do that ‘splody thing and ‘Face will go *poof* in the aftermath.
Now I need to make my bed, but I need to sit for a minute. I’m a little winded this morning for some reason. It’s probably because of all the rain we’ve had. So I’ll be back in a few minutes.
Howya! The poster does not say where they live, but from the writing, I’m sure it’s in the U.S.
I think it’s fun to try and figure out where people are by their sentence structure. It’s amazing how you can single people out as “not from here.”
When I get done with today’s phone calls, I think I’ll check eBay for the cost of blow dryers, then try to fit one in my next month’s budget.
We have all day to think stuff up.
Well, that would be fun!
Tom was up very late, baking a cake. I’ll let the Yutes eat it, later.
Tomorrow is Beaker’s beak tweaking, and I’m a little concerned. They’re going to use anesthesia and I still wonder how they know how much to give a tiny little bird. Needless to say, I’ll be worried, because Gonzo loves her.
Anyway, I’m headed for Wally’s so I can get another week’s worth of food.
Maybe today will be a good day to try my Roku! After the phone calls, anyway.
Good luck with all that. I hope it’s a safe procedure for Beaker.
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