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 ...
I read an interesting novel recently called “The Abominable” that discsused a lot of this stuff in relation to climbing Everest in the late 1930s/early 1940s.
I won’t recommend the novel because the Abominable wasn’t a yeti, it was human behavior that I didn’t need to read about. I won’t spoil it more in case you decide to read it anyway. The fact that it wasn’t about Yeti was in the jacket flap.
Yellow!
Happy Friday Eve!!!
All snow is now slush, but at least we had alternate-side parking canceled for this morning so 2 days without moving the car is a big win.
w00t!
Being on hold is intolerable.
Thanks, ArGee!
A few minutes after my last post, I called St George and cancelled the appointment, and asked the answering service to note that I want the next early appointment available, and then I decided to go to Wally’s because I was out of things.
Let me say this: I’m glad I cancelled. Though the BB SUV has 4WD, there is still the defroster factor, and as I was driving down the lane to exit the complex, snow was falling.
As it was, I had to remove over 4” of the stuff from all the windows and a small build-up on the outside mirrors before I could even open the door. I was surprised to see the 4”. I thought maybe two, at most. All I could think of was, “Welcome to Utah! The greatest snow on earth!”
When I got out of Walmart 20 minutes after going in, the snow was coming down harder and it was the little flakes that make excellent skiing, but turn to slush in a heartbeat. I hate to even think what the roads would be like on the way into St G.
Americans seem to have a tendency to drop their trash anywhere. I think there was also a book about “The Ugly American,” but I was young enough that it held no interest for me. However, I’ve seen enough “trashy” people to always be mindful of what I do with the trash I generate.
Having been a telephone CSR for a long time, I know the panic that rises when the calls waiting for service are “in the red.” It seemed to happen when everyone was out sick or too many people were at lunch.
It’s also interminable.
At least it feels that way.
Don’t yeti/yetis have thick fur? Once, we were in front of the house getting ready to go for a walk with our dogs when the silly German Shedder across the street came over to bite her in the back. Newfoundlands have lots of fur. She didn’t notice it. One of the other dogs and I went after the attacker and she ran back across the street and scaled the fence to get away. Crampons sound good to have around, but I should think it would be safer to use a grenade launcher to chase away a yeti.
Nope. Never saw golf shoes.
Never saw hobnail boots, either.
Thank you for beautiful basket kitteh!
G’orning/G’daft ernoon, y’all!
:waving:
:o]
Ah, you have survived the slippery stuff intact! Good news! P.S. When I’m on hold, I put phone on speaker and open mail and do boring paperwork, brush the cats, watch TV, read magazines, etc. They’re not gonna get rid of me that easily. Being bored by two things simultaneously is less stultifying than being bored by one. It’s a good idea to keep the reason for the call sitting on your keyboard or somewhere handy because you can become so involved with other stuff that, by the time you get a human on the line, you may have forgotten why you’ve called.
You were in artillery. What is the recommended way to stop a yeti?
I was never part of the artillery, but I would answer, 'Don't get him started."
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