Interesting idea…not sure how environmentally safe it would or wouldn’t be, but it’s fascinating, either way.
The Daily Scan – “A group of synthetic biology do-it-yourself researchers want to develop and sell glow-in-the-dark plants that could be used as decoration or, in the case of trees, to light streets, Andrew Pollack writes in the New York Times.
The plan is to work out of the BioCurious hacker lab space in Silicon Valley to initially splice DNA from a luminous organism like a jellyfish or marine bacterium into an Arabidopsis mustard plant and to move on to other plants later.\
The partners, including San Francisco tech entrepreneur Antony Evans and Omri Amirav-Drory, who runs a firm called Genome Compiler, also hope that their project will inspire others to pursue independent biology engineering, Pollack writes.
To fund the effort, the partners have raised $250,000 from around 4,500 Kickstarter donors in around two weeks, the Times reports.
“We hope to have a plant which you can visibly see in the dark (like glow-in-the-dark paint), but don’t expect to replace your light bulbs with version 1.0,” according to the project’s Kickstarter page.
Not surprisingly, the plan has drawn concerned criticism from environmental groups, including Friends of the Earth and the ETC Group, who have asked Kickstarter to remove the project from its website and have asked the US Department of Agriculture to take some action, according to the Times.
The environmental groups said that the glowing mustard plant project will lead to the “widespread and uncontrolled release of bioengineered seeds and plants through the controversial and risky techniques of synthetic biology,” Pollack notes.
So far, Kickstarter has told the critics to talk to the project’s partners, and USDA has not responded to the letter, according to the Times.” Source
Scientists are only “investigating” some of these ideas, eh? If that is really true then I cannot help but wonder who exactly is behind spraying the sky over my head several times a month? And if the spraying has nothing to do with geo-engineering, then what the hell is the purpose of it? If it is part of the ‘investigating’ then I resent the hell out of possibly being used as a human guinea pig – without my consent and with zero power to opt out of the program.
The sky over S. NM Friday afternoon (April 13,2013)
ABC Science – “Scientists and engineers are now investigating methods to manipulate the Earth’s cloud cover, change the oceans’ chemical composition and blanket the planet with a layer of sunlight-reflecting particles.
Geoengineering — deliberate, large-scale intervention in the climate system designed to counter global warming or offset some of its effects — is commonly divided into two broad classes.
Carbon dioxide removal technologies aim to extract excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it somewhere less dangerous. This approach is a kind of clean-up operation after we have dumped our waste into the sky.
Solar radiation management technologies seek to reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the planet, thereby reducing the amount of energy trapped in the atmosphere of ‘greenhouse Earth’. This is not a clean-up but an attempt to mask one of the effects of dumping waste into the sky, a warming globe.
Diligent contributors to Wikipedia have listed some 45 proposed geoengineering schemes or variations on schemes. Eight or ten of them are receiving serious attention. Some are grand in conception, some are prosaic; some are purely speculative, some are all too feasible; yet all of them tell us something interesting about how the Earth system works.” Full Article
“Eating genetically modified food is gambling with every bite.”
RawForBeauty.com
“Never-Before-Seen-Evidence points to genetically engineered foods as a major contributor to rising disease rates in the US population, especially among children. Gastrointestinal disorders, allergies, inflammatory diseases, and infertility are just some of the problems implicated in humans, pets, livestock, and lab animals that eat genetically modified soybeans and corn.”
Uhm…I…er…well now…I don’t even really know what to think about this. Good? Bad..? Jurassic Park careless, maybe?
Once again, I’m sitting here asking myself, “Just because we can, does it always mean that we should?”
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From Treehugger – “A duck has fathered a chicken — seriously. Scientists from Dubai’s Central Veterinary Research Laboratory say they have succeeded in using one species to produce another, a new technique which could be used to bring extinct species back to life.
To achieve the interspecies-produced offspring, researchers injected a male duck embryo with chicken germ cells — those cells responsible for producing gametes (sperm or eggs). And as the duck grew into sexual maturity, its body began to produce reproductive cells belonging to the other species, allowing it to breed with a hen to create a chick.
Using this same technique, researchers believe that one day chickens could be modified with DNA from other bird types, like eagles or songbirds, to breed offspring belonging to a species not their own — including those previously wiped out of existence.
Mike McGrew, a scientist working with the team in Dubai, says that the hope is to one day ”use this system to propagate endangered species or potentially bring back an extinct one.”
Not long ago, the notion of reviving lost species from extinction seemed pure science fiction, but embryonic researchers are well on their way to doing just that.”
If you haven’t already watched it, here’s ”The World According To Monsanto” – it is WELL worth the watch time for anyone wanting to know more about Monsanto and their dangerous influence on our world…
“So let me get this straight: It’s illegal in America to milk a cow, sell that fresh milk to a neighbor and have their baby drink fresh milk with all the digestive enzymes intact. But it’s perfectly acceptable in our world to engineer mutant cloned genetically modified cows to produce hormone-induced, artificially-engineered milk that will be fed en masse to human babies?”
World Truth TV – “The world of genetic engineering has fallen even further into the surreal with the announcement that New Zealand “scientists” have unveiled a genetically modified mutant cloned cow which they say produces a reduced-allergen milk for consumption by human babies. This is being reported by the BBC and elsewhere.
Horrifyingly, these Frankenscientists cloned a cow and then altered the embryo using RNA interference. After gestation, the mutant GMO cow was born without a tail! But these scientists say that’s no problem, and that the mutation of having no tail couldn’t possibly be related to anything they did with the cow’s DNA.
I’m not making this up. This is the insanity of the quack science world in which we now live.”
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“To make Daisy [the cow], scientists took a cow skin cell and genetically modified it to produce molecules that block the manufacture of BLG protein. The nucleus of this cell was then transferred into a cow egg that had its own nucleus removed.
The reconstituted egg was grown in the lab until it formed what is called a blastocyst, a ball of around 100 cells, and then transplanted into the womb of a foster cow.
The cloning technique is not efficient. Of around 100 blastocysts the scientists implanted into cows, more than half of the pregnancies failed early on, and only one live calf, Daisy, was born.
And even that calf was a mutant calf, born without a tail, rendering the whole thing a horrifying example of genetic mutilation…”
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Humanity is risking a genetic apocalypse
This has got to stop, friends. The mad GMO scientists are operating in gross violation of natural law. They are playing genetic roulette with Mother Nature. They’re fumbling in the dark with dangerous tools, like children with suitcase nukes and a happy red button that seems inviting to just push and see what happens.
Our modern-day human civilization has neither the ethical foundation nor the wisdom to pursue such technologies. Altering the digital code for the expression of life is not something to be pursued under the crude selfishness of corporate greed, nor the wild fantasies of naive scientists who relish in playing “what if” experiments with all remaining life on our planet.
These experiments on animals — and crops — are worse than foolish. They are inherently evil… even demented. Just because we know how to alter DNA doesn’t mean we have the wisdom to understand the consequences of doing so. Yet in the race for the next biological profit machine — a cow, a crop, or even a pharmaceutical — caution is thrown out the window and replaced by pure mindless greed.
No one knows what happens when the genetic engineering of mutant chimera animals get unleashed across the land. Nobody really knows the long-term effects of genetic pollution. Nobody even knows the long-term effects of humans eating GM crops!
So it’s all a grand, malicious, conceited genetic experiment being carried out on us all: our bodies, our children, our lands, our animals, our crops and our planet.
The GM “scientists” are risking EVERYTHING. And they do so blindly, while mutilating animals and calling it “progress.”
It is disgusting. It is an abomination. I pray for the sake of humanity that all genetic engineering activity in our planet is halted by any means necessary.
We are floating through space, my friends, on a blue ball of water inhabited by fools who call themselves “scientists.”
They risk everything. And there is no backup plan.
Spread the word. SHARE this story. STOP the genetic mutilation of animals. HALT GMO crops and save our planet from the risk of total disaster.”
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And hey, if you don’t care for the idea of this ‘reduced allergin’ milk, you could always hop on over to Japan and get a big glass of human breast milk…straight from a cow’s teet…
I wasn’t upright and online for a full hour this morning when a friend dropped this link on me…I’m bleary still…I squint at the headline and think to myself, “Oh, this has GOT to be an Onion spoof!” Please let this be a spoof…but no, of course not. Only in a totally Downside-Up and Backasswards world does a country that is broke and up to its eyeballs in debt spend $384,949…to study duck-dicks.
Ya’ll can read it and weep…I’m going to go splash my coffee with some whiskey and hope this is the most insane thing I read all day…even though I know it likely won’t be…
Kinky Ducks! (Howard The Duck; Best “B” Movie Ever!)
IJ Review – “Most Americans don’t give a pluck about ducks. Yet, even while the White House is shutting down tours and threatening to cancel April Fool’s Day egg rolls, it is still spending major bling to study duck junk.
CNS News found the federal study and reported it on Tuesday:
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a $384,949 grant to Yale University for a study on “Sexual Conflict, Social Behavior and the Evolution of Waterfowl Genitalia”, according to the recovery.govwebsite.
The grant description says,“The project examines how reproductive morphology covaries with season, age, and social environment in a diverse sample of duck species that differ in ecology, territoriality and breeding system.”
Since the study was a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, hot duck lovin’ may be the only real stimulus that came out of the $812 billion spending package.” Full Story
Excerpts, Seattle Organic Restaurants – “30 healthy GM babies were born after a series of experiments by Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science of Saint Barnabas in New Jersey. The babies belonged to women who had fertility problems. So in order to fertilize their egg, extra genes from a female donor were inserted into their eggs. The genetic finger print on two of the one year olds shows that their DNA is inherited from two female and one male. This technology also allows the GM babies to pass their genetic change into their off springs.
The research was conducted by embryologist Professor Jacques Cohen and his colleagues who promised a new technique that helps couples who can’t have kids become fertile. Dr Jacques Cohen in the Journal Human Reproduction mentions how this is the first time that the human germline genetic modification has resulted in normal kids…
It’s the same with GM babies. Now, few years later after the first GM babies are born, we can find reports that question the success of genetic modification method for treating infertility. Many of these reports express concerns about dangers and long term health risks associated with this technology.
Even a report by USDA seems to have looked at the ethics of ooplasmic transplantation and how this method can increase the chances of chromosomal anomalies. In fact this report shows how an 18-month old child born from this technology was diagnosed with autism. The report by USDA also states how there are no long term tests or follow-up studies regarding GM kids. So lack of long term tests and further research has resulted in doubt and hesitation about the safety and effectiveness of GM technology. I have to say, this is the same with GM foods. The GMOs were unleashed into our food supply without proper testing and long term studies while both FDA and USDA showed no hesitation in approving GMOs.
What’s Next? Cloning human beings and owning their genes?
Crazy enough, since the biotech companies have secured patents on everything, they could also claim that the GM human beings are also their patentable property. As crazy as it sounds, they are already in the process of making decisions on whether or not they can patent the GM life…” Full Story
“The FDA has stated it will likely not label genetically engineered salmon, providing consumers no way of knowing if the fish they are feeding their families is genetically engineered. At least 35 other species of genetically engineered fish are currently under development, and the FDA’s decision on this genetically engineered salmon application will set a precedent for other genetically engineered fish and animals (including cows, chickens and pigs) to enter the global food market.”
Common Dreams – March 20 – “A coalition of consumer, health, food safety and fishing groups today launched the “Campaign for Genetically Engineered (GE)-Free Seafood” by announcing that several major grocery retailers representing more than 2,000 stores across the United States have already committed not to sell genetically engineered seafood if it is allowed onto the market.
The growing market rejection of GE fish comes as the FDA conducts its final review of a genetically engineered salmon. If approved, the salmon would be the first-ever genetically engineered animal allowed to enter the human food supply.
Stores that have committed to not offer the salmon or other genetically engineered seafood include the national retailers Trader Joe’s (367 stores), Aldi (1,230 stores), Whole Foods (325 stores in US); regional chains such as Marsh Supermarkets (93 stores in Indiana and Ohio), PCC Natural Markets (9 stores in Washington State); and co-ops in Minnesota, New York, California and Kansas.
“We applaud these retailers for listening to the vast majority of their customers who want sustainable, natural seafood for their families. Now it’s time for other food retailers, including Walmart, Costco and Safeway, to follow suit and let their customers know they will not be selling unlabeled, poorly studied genetically engineered seafood,” said Eric Hoffman, food & technology policy campaigner with Friends of the Earth…”
Not sure how I missed this info when it was announced a couple of weeks ago but I’m guessing I’m not the only one who missed the story so I decided to go ahead and share it. After reading about some of the reactions and horrific side effects to this *latest and greatest* vaccine, I’d never allow my daughter – much less my son – to get this. No way can I see this as anything other than more of Big Pharma’s way of experimenting on humans and raking in a profit while they screw with our bodies and lives.
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The Telegraph – “Boys aged 12-13 will be vaccinated with Gardasil at schools around the country and in coming months boys aged 14-15 will get the jab as part of a catch up program.
More than one million teenage girls aged 12-16 have already been vaccinated under the free program that is expected to reduce the 700 new cases of cervical cancer diagnosed each year.
The vaccine fights off 70 per cent of cervical cancers caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV) and although boys can’t develop the cancer they still carry the virus and can infect female sexual partners.
Health Minister Tanya Plibersek, who will launch the free vaccination program for boys at Newtown High School of Performing Arts in Sydney, said vaccinating boys will improve herd immunity.
“We know that vaccinating boys will protect them from cancer and genital warts.. and reduce the rates of cervical cancer among women,” she says.
“With a looming economic collapse, constant threat of false flag events and World War III, and myriad seasonal viruses to call upon to keep the fear machine working overtime, we would be unwise to assume that TPTB will show unending restraint. Nevertheless, if one is prepared for these eventualities, then it becomes less about fear and more about self-empowerment to make personal changes and ensure that we can survive and thrive no matter what they throw at us.”
Excerpts: “The Powers-That-Be seem to be making a continuous effort to drive a stake right into America’s heart(land). Natural disasters are on the rise, and an increasing amount of evidence is leading to the conclusion that these natural disasters might not be completely natural.
Some already have speculated that we are entering a time of weather and earthquake wars, as the incidence of mega disasters has risen across the world. Is government experimentation simply going awry, or is it being orchestrated on purpose? Are they hiding behind or even amplifying current natural earth changes such as the strong solar cycle and the ongoing magnetic pole shift to accomplish some furtive plot?The hidden hand has always cloaked itself using a wide array of techniques to conceal its divide-and-conquer agenda. By owning the ultimate weapon — the very climate upon which we all depend — entire regions can now be put under a full spectrum of remote control already served up through climate change, economic instability, and the military-surveillance complex brought in under the false threat of terrorism.
Louisiana Sink Hole – Will This Trigger the Big One?
As you peruse the points below and the accompanying illustrations, you’ll see a very clear, seriously dangerous weak spot.
The recent developments with the growing Louisiana sinkhole caving into a potentially massively explosive gas repository also used for nuclear waste storage is something to keep a close eye on and take very seriously.
Will A New Madrid Quake Be Natural, Manipulated, or Both? The Sordid Lead Up To NowLet’s first look at the evidence for the manipulation of natural disasters and the proposed government solutions, then move to the massive preparation undertaken by FEMA indicating that something big is on the way for the area of the New Madrid Fault.
The Evidence of a Plan Predictive Programming – This is where the groundwork is laid for directing people toward an imagined future. Through books, video games, movies, propaganda placement, and education, the passive receiving of orchestrated information can literally change the future. Elites have always been obsessed with mind control . . . and the best form is that which is the least obvious. The unaware are manipulated and controlled without a single shot being fired, or a single piece of legislation written. However, once one becomes attuned to their methods, it becomes incredibly obvious. Besides the constant bombardment of mega-disaster and end-of-the-world scenarios, including the new madrid mega quake, one prime current example is geoengineering (aka chemtrails). This chemical spraying has now wormed into movies and public places as an example for children toembrace the new normal of planes laying down a tic-tac-toe murky gloom across our skies.
Accept the new manipulated reality and the rest will follow.
I am certainly no fan of Al Gore’s (or any politrickster for that matter) but couldn’t resist sharing this video since he more or less openly admits that we do indeed have people polluting our air and that due to the side-effects, the efforts to create a ‘sun-canopy’ are harmful to every life form on the planet.
Former vice president Al Gore appeared on Ellen Degeneres’ NBC daytime talk show and admitted that scientists have “proposed” programs intended to “figure out a way to block out the sun,” an effort many argue is already underway via the “chemtrail” program.
Taken from my front door…nothing at all strange here, folks…
Celia and Bill Abram, retired public school teachers, have been watching chemtrails since late 1998. A former meteorological observer with the Canadian Dept. of Transportation, Bill Abram knew early on that the chemtrails did not match his observations of cirrus or alto stratus or ‘mare’s tails’ or anything else. It was chemtrails, not contrails, that was obscuring the sky. As a matter of fact, that’s what the US government (and NATO) calls it. Not officially, of course, because it doesn’t exist. That’s why most of the public doesn’t see them or rationalizes them away. They still trust ‘their’ government: They are under the sway of the ersatz collective cognitive imperative (to paraphrase Julian Jaynes). Celia and Bill Abram have been watching our double crossed skies for nearly a decade now. Celia identifies the trance state this way, “They never noticed it, haven’t a clue what it is, and really aren’t that alarmed when we tell them.” As Celia points out, our only hope is to induce some cognitive dissonance in the trance states of Canada, the U.S., Europe, Australia…
“Stealing genetic and medical information without consent is unethical and dangerous, allowing every individual to be tracked and their relatives to be identified.”
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The Daily Scan – “Private companies may be able to purchase access to medical and genetic data, and possibly to personal data, housed in databases of the UK’s National Health Service, the Observer‘s Jamie Doward reports.
But, this “revelation, which contradicts government claims that such material would be completely anonymous, has raised fears that pharmaceutical firms and insurance companies will be able to determine the identities of people susceptible to particular diseases,” Doward says.
Doward notes that details obtained under the Freedom of Information Act indicate that the data provided will initially be anonymized, but that companies can appeal to receive data that includes ages and postcodes. Further, while people will be able to request that their genetic data not be shared, it might not always be possible.” Full Story
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The Guardian – “The government is keen for Britain to be at the forefront of the genetic revolution, a potential multi-billion-pound industry. Last year David Cameron launched a £100m scheme to map the genomes of up to 100,000 people, saying it would help to save lives by delivering new treatments. The move was seen as the first step in the construction of a national human genome database.
Under the scheme, firms would be able to access the information at a cost, but ministers insist that all data will be strictly anonymous. However, material released under the Freedom of Information Act reveals that firms can invoke an appeal process to demand “patient-identifiable data”, such as age and postcode.
“Without a semblance of transparency, a national genetic database, connected to personal medical records and made available to the private sector, has been set up. Privacy laws have been redefined and our own genomic information is being commercialised,” said Edward Hockings, a bioethicist from the pressure group Ethics and Genetics, who made the FOI requests.” Full Story
“Evergreen is studying other applications for the Supertanker. Oil spill containment, chemical decontamination and weather modification are all potential markets for this aircraft. Because the aircraft is pressurized, the Evergreen Supertanker has the capability of any long-range Boeing 747 passenger aircraft. This allows the aircraft to deploy to any international location.”
Evergreen Aviation, one of the worlds largest private aviation companies admits to weather modification service. On their own website in the Markets section for their New Super Tanker they state Weather modification among other interesting service markets.
“The Evergreen Supertanker is not just limited to fighting fire . It will be a true utilitarian aircraft with the capability to configure to different applications on short notice. This multi-mission aircraft can support sensitive security and environmental missions. The aircraft’s exceptional drop capabilities, loiter time and size make it an ideal tool to perform challenging homeland security missions, able to neutralize chemical attacks on military installments or major population centers, and help control large, environmentally disastrous oil spills.” Full Story on AirCrap
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Click Image for a slideshow of photos taken over my head here in New Mexico…
(NaturalNews) A new vaccine for influenza has hit the market, and it is the first ever to contain genetically-modified (GM) proteins derived from insect cells. According to reports, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the vaccine, known as Flublok, which contains recombinant DNA technology and an insect virus known as baculovirus that is purported to help facilitate the more rapid production of vaccines.
According to Flublok’s package insert, the vaccine is trivalent, which means it contains GM proteins from three different flu strains. The vaccine’s manufacturer, Protein Sciences Corporation (PSC), explains that Flublok is produced by extracting cells from the fall armyworm, a type of caterpillar, and genetically altering them to produce large amounts of hemagglutinin, a flu virus protein that enables the flu virus itself to enter the body quickly.
So rather than have to produce vaccines the “traditional” way using egg cultures, vaccine manufacturers will now have the ability to rapidly produce large batches of flu virus protein using GMOs, which is sure to increase profits for the vaccine industry. But it is also sure to lead to all sorts of serious side effects, including the deadly nerve disease Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GSB), which is listed on the shot as a potential side effect.
“If Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) has occurred within six weeks of receipt of a prior influenza vaccine, the decision to give Flublock should be based on careful consideration of the potential benefits and risks,” explains a section of the vaccine’s literature entitled “Warnings and Precautions.” Other potential side effects include allergic reactions, respiratory infections, headaches, fatigue, altered immunocompetence, rhinorrhea, and myalgia.
For those not already familiar with J. Craig Venter, I added links in bold to the article excerpt below that highlight more of his history. I’ll give you a spoiler…he was a huge part of that wonderfully successful BP Oil Spill ‘clean-up’…he created an e-coli based bacteria that eats iron and it was dumped…or was it sprayed?…all across the Gulf of Mexico….*shudders* It eats iron…how much iron is in the human body..?
Monsanto + Craig Venter…the Ultimate Match Made in Heaven…er, HELL…
UT San Diego - “Monsanto Corp. has acquired part of a La Jolla agricultural biotech in a deal that gives the St. Louis food giant a presence in San Diego for the first time.
Monsanto purchased crop-boosting microbial technology from Agradis, a spinoff of Synthetic Genomics, the companies said Wednesday. Monsanto also made an equity investment in Synthetic Genomics and signed a research agreement with the company. Terms were not disclosed.
The acquisition gives Monsanto access to some of the newest and most sophisticated technologies for improving crop yields and preventing loss from disease. And while genetic technology is fundamental, it’s mostly being used to find naturally occurring beneficial microbes.
Synthetic Genomics was founded in 2005 by gene pioneerJ. Craig Venter to solve energy and environmental challenges. As part of the acquisition, seven Agradis employees researching helpful microbes were hired by Monsanto, said Joe Mahler, Synthetic Genomics’ chief financial officer…
…Synthetic Genomics and Plenus are forming a new company with the parts of Agradis not purchased by Monsanto, Mahler said.
The company, AgraCast, controls breeding and genetic improvement technologies for castor and sweet sorghum, along with an antifungal product for fruits and vegetables. Employees with the new company will move out of the Agradis office to a new one nearby, Mahler said.
Just because we can…does that really mean we should..?
“Japanese scientists say they have produced a mouse that tweets like a bird in a genetically engineered “evolution” which they hope will shed light on the origins of human language…”
Mutations are the driving force of evolution. We have cross-bred the genetically modified mice for generations to see what would happen,’ lead researcher Arikuni Uchimura said.
‘We checked the newly born mice one by one… One day we found a mouse that was singing like a bird,’ he told AFP.
He said that the ‘singing mouse’ was born by chance but that the trait will be passed on to future generations.
‘I was surprised because I had been expecting mice that are different in physical shape,’ he said by telephone
The project has also produced ‘a mouse with short limbs and a tail like a dachshund’.
The laboratory, directed by professor Takeshi Yagi at the Osaka University’s Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences in western Japan, now has more than 100 ‘singing mice’ for further research.
The team hopes they will provide clues on how human language evolved, just as researchers in other countries study songbirds such as finches to help them understand the origins of human language.
David Gardner, Chief Executive of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, pointed out robots are already milking cows.
Within the next 20 to 40 years, he said that robots will be able to cultivate land, ‘zap’ weeds and pick fruit and vegetables.
Already Fendt, a German company, are hoping to make a driverless tractor available by 2014. Farmers would control two tractors from one cab. It could be used in flat, large fields in East Anglia within a couple of years for repetitive tasks like de-stoning the soil on vegetable beds.
The new “cabless” tractors use technology developed in the military, that use GPS to know where they are and sensors to detect humans or other life in the way of the machine.
“A large part of the future of British agriculture is robotic.” Full Story
Prospero is the working prototype of an Autonomous Micro Planter (AMP) that uses a combination of swarm and game theory and is the first of four steps. It is meant to be deployed as a group or “swarm”. The other three steps involve autonomous robots that tend the crops, harvest them, and finally one robot that can plant, tend, and harvest–autonomously transitioning from one phase to another.
Prospero is controlled with a Parallax Propeller chip mounted on a Schmart Board. Its body is designed by Lynxmotion and the orginal programming allows it to walk autonomously in any direction while avoiding objects with its duel ultrasonic Ping))) without turning it’s body. An underbody sensor array allows the robot to know if a seed has been planted in the area at the optimal spacing and depth. Prospero can then dig a hole, plant a seed in the hole, cover the seed with soil, and apply any pre-emergence fertilizers and/or herbicides along with the marking agent. Prospero can then talk to other robots in the immediate proximity that it needs help planting in that area or that this area has been planted and to move on via IR (currently represented with a green and red LED ). The more seeds it plants, the more the “green” LED lights up, the more it draws other robots nearby (+2). The more it detects planted seeds, the more it repulses other robots with the “red” LED (-1)
This is information that I really probably never needed to know but hey, since it has to be in my head, I figured I’d share the fun and pass it along..!
Yahoo Science – “The storm clouds in Earth’s atmosphere are filled with microbial life, according to a new study.
The research, published today (Jan. 23) in the journal PLoS One, revealed that hailstones drawn from storm clouds harbor several species of bacteria that tend to reside on plants, as well as thousands of organic compounds normally found in soil. Some of the bacterial species can seed the tiny ice crystals that lead to rain, suggesting they play a role in causing rain.
“Those storm clouds are quite violent phenomena,” said study co-author Tina Santl Temkiv, an environmental chemist at Aarhus University in Denmark. “They are sucking huge amounts of air from under the clouds, and that’s how the bacteria probably got into the cloud.”
Temkiv and her colleagues wanted to see if bacteria lived in the violent storm clouds that hover above the Earth’s surface. To find out, they studied 42 hailstones that had formed in a thunderstorm over Ljubljana, Slovenia, in May 2009.
After carefully removing the outer layer and sterilizing the hailstone, they analyzed its chemical composition.
The team found thousands of organic, or carbon-containing, compounds — nearly as many as found in a typical river, Temkiv said. In addition, they found several species of bacteria that normally live on plants. Some of the bacteria make a pinkish pigment that allows them to withstand the punishing ultraviolet rays in the atmosphere.
Some of bacteria found are ice-nucleators, meaning they can act as seeds for ice crystals to attach to in the clouds above Earth. When these same ice crystals get large enough, they fall as rain or snow, depending on the air temperature.
The findings suggest that bacteria could influence weather patterns, possibly making rain, Temkiv said.
“They may be growing in clouds, increasing in number and then modifying the chemistry in the cloud but also in the atmosphere indirectly,” she told LiveScience…”
