Is it me or has there been a lot on the tubes about aquaponics lately? There was the thing about growing cucumbers and fish in the badlands of Alberta. And that other thing about shivering tilapia in a backyard Thunderdome in the middle of snow-bound rural Connecticut. Classes in the subject at the New Vista High School. A youtube channel. And a blog, natch. Maybe it’s time to dust off those utopian visions of urban fish farms vertically integrated with up-market sushi restaurants.
Irradiating cherry trees in order to save them
“Cherry trees require a minimum of 8,000 hours of low temperatures over the winter to produce the optimum blossoms, but as Japan gets warmer we are falling short of that figure,” said [Dr Abe].
“And that is a problem because we Japanese love cherry blossom season.”
Dr. Abe’s team has responded to this national crisis by creating a cherry tree that blooms in all four seasons, keeping its flowers for longer, producing more blossoms and under a wider range of temperatures than any existing breeds.
How? A combination of radiation and grafting. Which means that one will now be able to wear the Human Polllination Suit all year round.
The tribe of genebankers gets a visit
Peter [Curran] meets the botanists who won the lottery. Seed conservation used to be rather marginal to the main scientific activity at The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. That is, until, the scientists who preserve seeds for future generations asked for and received 30 million pounds.
It’s a BBC programme and you have 7 days left to listen to it. It provides an interesting insight into a particular, albeit unique, genebank — if you can get past Mr Curran’s sardonic attitude.
Helping Haiti through hemp
I suppose it was only a matter of time.
Nibbles: Haiti, Talets, Burukutu, Citrus diversity, Fish
- Rebuilding Haiti’s agriculture on the back of diverse tissue-cultured banana plantlets.
- Rhizowen’s hidden talets. And no, that’s not a misprint.
- “The age long drink, also known as BKT, serves as a source of alcohol for those who lack the financial means to patronise refined brew like beer and other foreign or imported drinks.” Count me in.
- Citrus diversity — is the genetic blueprint the only way to enjoy it?
- The collapse of wild-caught fish. In brief.