December « 2009 « Biofortified

Frank gets a check

by Frank N. Foode on 10 December 2009

I just got the prize check from Ashoka Changemakers today, and boy, this will buy a lot of compost! Seeing the $1,500 amount would have been enough, but they went the whole nine acres and sprung for one of those big novelty checks. This thing is enormous!

So what are we going to do now that Biofortified is solvent?

Is space beer risky?

by Anastasia on 9 December 2009

spacebeer Sapporo is selling 250 6-packs of their ultra limited edition Space Beer through a lottery system for 10,000 yen each – but only to people who live in Japan. The proceeds will go to Okayama University for science education. The malting barley used in this beer is of the Haruna Nijo variety, developed by Sapporo. This barley is the 4th generation produced from barley that spent 5 months aboard the International Space Station in the Zvezda Service Module. The hops from Furano, Hokkaido were also from seeds that spent time in space, although I wasn’t able to find out how long they spent up there. This all sounds pretty cool, a simple feel good pro-space research event.

Sure, it’s cool, and I wouldn’t mind having a taste, but my first thought after reading Barley + Space = Space Beer! on Wired was: were there any mutations in the barley or hops that were caused by the exposure to gamma rays, etc while in space? Should the lucky few who get to try it be worried about unintended changes in the barley and hops from gamma rays and other mutagens in space?

Tomorrow’s Table on Iowa NPR

by Anastasia on 3 December 2009

Pamela Ronald and Raoul Adamchak of Tomorrow’s Table are in Ames, Iowa for a series of events, including a big seminar and multiple discussion events and opportunities to interact with them. If you’re in Ames, check out this flyer for all the details. If you’re not in Ames, you can still learn about their big message of combining organic farming and genetic engineering by listening to Talk of Iowa on Iowa NPR. Listen