by Drew Kershen on 2 September 2012 
Drought across the United States has reduced substantially the expected yield of corn and soybean fields for the fall 2012 U.S. harvests. With reduced yield, prices have risen rapidly for these crops that are widely-used food and feed ingredients, huge international agricultural trade commodities, and important food aid essentials. With the price increases, persons around the world have expressed concerns that a situation similar to 2008 is about to occur. In 2008, high food prices led to social, economic, and political instability – hunger, export restrictions, riots, and the overthrow of governments. In light of these concerns, commentators have
by Karl Haro von Mogel on 29 February 2012 Recently, we received a message from an enterprising Floridian who wants to help people identify every plant they come across – with nothing more than a smartphone and a camera – and an application that he is building. His name is Steve Bowen, and he is trying to raise money for his smartphone app, called iBoPlanet™. He explains it in detail with a video on his Kickstarter fundraising page. The basic idea is that if you had a plant you wanted to identify and learn more about – all you would need to do is take a photograph of the
When I was in grad school, there was a lab in our department that studied intestinal parasitic roundworms. Although this wasn’t related to what I was doing in any way—everyone who has been to grad school will know that you attend the department seminars for the donuts and/or pizza no matter what the topic is. I have to say, though, that the seminars from this lab made the donuts and pizza a little less appealing. One of the students of the lab defended his thesis work during this time frame. He was a terrific speaker who made us understand the
by Karl Haro von Mogel on 11 February 2010 I just received word* that a special webcast will be happening tomorrow, Friday the 12th, called Now Serving 9 Billion: Global Dialogue on Meeting Food Needs for the Next Generation. The webcast will occur from 10 am-12 pm U.S. Eastern Standard Time (-5 GMT), which will be 9-11 am in the U.S. Central time zone where I am. Here are the panelists that will be appearing in the webcast: Dr. Nina V. Fedoroff; Science and Technology Advisor to the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and to the Administrator of USAID Rajiv Shah. Author of “Mendel In The Kitchen” Bio here.
by Karl Haro von Mogel on 17 April 2009 In the genetic engineering discussion, within the opposition there emerges a general dislike for “technology.” Usually, when people say technology they mean things that are made of metal, plastic, uses electricity, has protruding hypodermic needles, and is usually shiny. The opposite of things that are natural or organic, technology is entirely human-derived and artificial-looking. Of course, what this obscures is what a technology really is, and that is applied knowledge. According to Wikipedia, Technology is a broad concept that deals with an animal species’ usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects an animal species’ ability to
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Food Crises and Technological Phobia
Drought across the United States has reduced substantially the expected yield of corn and soybean fields for the fall 2012 U.S. harvests. With reduced yield, prices have risen rapidly for these crops that are widely-used food and feed ingredients, huge international agricultural trade commodities, and important food aid essentials. With the price increases, persons around the world have expressed concerns that a situation similar to 2008 is about to occur. In 2008, high food prices led to social, economic, and political instability – hunger, export restrictions, riots, and the overthrow of governments. In light of these concerns, commentators have
Want to identify plants with your smartphone?
Recently, we received a message from an enterprising Floridian who wants to help people identify every plant they come across – with nothing more than a smartphone and a camera – and an application that he is building. His name is Steve Bowen, and he is trying to raise money for his smartphone app, called iBoPlanet™. He explains it in detail with a video on his Kickstarter fundraising page. The basic idea is that if you had a plant you wanted to identify and learn more about – all you would need to do is take a photograph of the
What if Bt saved human lives?
When I was in grad school, there was a lab in our department that studied intestinal parasitic roundworms. Although this wasn’t related to what I was doing in any way—everyone who has been to grad school will know that you attend the department seminars for the donuts and/or pizza no matter what the topic is. I have to say, though, that the seminars from this lab made the donuts and pizza a little less appealing. One of the students of the lab defended his thesis work during this time frame. He was a terrific speaker who made us understand the
Webcast Tomorrow: Now Serving 9 Billion
I just received word* that a special webcast will be happening tomorrow, Friday the 12th, called Now Serving 9 Billion: Global Dialogue on Meeting Food Needs for the Next Generation. The webcast will occur from 10 am-12 pm U.S. Eastern Standard Time (-5 GMT), which will be 9-11 am in the U.S. Central time zone where I am. Here are the panelists that will be appearing in the webcast: Dr. Nina V. Fedoroff; Science and Technology Advisor to the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and to the Administrator of USAID Rajiv Shah. Author of “Mendel In The Kitchen” Bio here.
Why do people opposes technology?
In the genetic engineering discussion, within the opposition there emerges a general dislike for “technology.” Usually, when people say technology they mean things that are made of metal, plastic, uses electricity, has protruding hypodermic needles, and is usually shiny. The opposite of things that are natural or organic, technology is entirely human-derived and artificial-looking. Of course, what this obscures is what a technology really is, and that is applied knowledge. According to Wikipedia, Technology is a broad concept that deals with an animal species’ usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects an animal species’ ability to