Marge the cow
“Marge was singled out in 2001 when the company bought her from her owner for £120 and then sent her to a secret location.“ Why the secrecy? It turns out that Marge is a cow that produces skim milk all on her own with no filtering. Her milk is also high in all the important Omega-3 fatty acids and what’s more, her female calves have all inherited the trait. According to this article in the Scotsman, Marge and her offspring are the result of a $110 million research program going on in New Zealand by the biotech company ViaLactia. If they succeed at breeding bulls that can pass on Marge’s skim milk trait we are well on our way to yet another species with a narrow gene pool. It’s working well for the cheetah.
Photo taken from AnaC.Ramirez’ Flickr stream.
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The great bee caper
If you haven’t heard this news story, it’s a big one. All over North America and Europe honeybee colonies are collapsing. While it might seem like this is just another species going extinct in a world of death, this has serious human implications. Most of our fruit crops are naturally fertilized by wild bees. It’s a process we haven’t had to worry about for centuries but all of a sudden the bees are disappearing into thin air.
The phenomena is officially known as colony collapse disorder and it could be devastating. The biggest problem is that we can’t even reach a conclusion as to why so many bees are deserting their hives, but since 1971 half the bees have disappeared in North America alone. A simple Google search yields 100’s of causes and solutions. Some of the leading causes could be pesticides, genetically modified crops, or even cell phone radiation.
The solutions being offered are not very impressive in that their scope is wide and various, but this article in The Guardian is the most recent. It suggests that bees should be kept by city dwellers to foster a greater “bee friendly” landscape. Of course at this rate we may have to find a whole new solution. Nanobots?
Image from EncinoMan’s Flickr! stream.
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Loofas are vegetables?
That’s right, the thing you thought was a sponge from the bottom of the ocean is actually a dried out vegetable and get this, you can grow one yourself!! Go check out this how-to guide from GroovyGreen.com to find out how. SO COOL!!!
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Gophers come from waffles, but how to get rid of them?
French is a funny language with a very interesting history. Based on Latin and largely not spoken, even in France, before the French Revolution, the potential for French linguistic snobbery is unbounded. There is of course a lot to be proud of in the language, for example the English word "gopher" comes from the French word for waffles, "gaufres." The name makes sense for the way that they waffle farmer’‘s fields, but the question still remains as to how farmers deal with those waffling varmints. For one solution, check out this demo video of the Rodenator Pro. I especially like the fact that the demo ends with the James Bond theme music. \r\n\r\n
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