Big ideas in small packages: The seeds and worms making their way to the ISS

On Feb. 20, 2021, Northrop Grumman will launch its Cygnus cargo spacecraft aboard an Antares rocket to deliver several tons of cargo and supplies to the International Space Station for its 15th resupply mission (CRS-15). Included in these bulky supplies will be a handful of items that weigh no more than a few grams—a sampling of seeds, some microscopic proteins, and…

Greeks domesticated grapes about 4000 years ago to improve wine-making

We know that the ancient Greeks made wine as early as 4300 BC, but a new analysis of preserved seeds suggests grapes were domesticated around 2000 BC Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2266550-greeks-domesticated-grapes-about-4000-years-ago-to-improve-wine-making/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

Reddit’s Former CEO Is Now In the Forest-Planting Business

Terraformation, a startup led by Yishan Wong, former CEO of Reddit, is demonstrating an approach to reforest the planet quickly enough to fight climate change. Fast Company reports: Trees can play a key role in capturing carbon at scale — by one estimate, nearly a trillion hectares of land could feasibly be reforested, and those trees could potentially store more than…

Farming Equipment is Beaming Back ‘Reams of Data’ To its Manufacturers

Farming equipment like combine harvesters “beam back reams of data to its manufacturer,” reports Forbes:
GPS records the combine’s precise path through the field as it moves. Sensors tally the number of crops gathered per acre and the spacing between them. On a sister machine called a planter, algorithms adjust the distribution of seeds based on which parts of the soil have…

These Drones Will Plant 40,000 Trees in a Month. By 2028, They’ll Have Planted 1 Billion

Earlier this month, on land north of Toronto that previously burned in a wildfire, drones hovered over fields and fired seed pods into the ground, planting native pine and spruce trees to help restore habitat for birds. From a report: Flash Forest, the Canadian startup behind the project, plans to use its technology to plant 40,000 trees in the area this…

How the world came to understand black holes

Earlier this month, Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel, and Andrea Ghez split the 2020 physics Nobel Prize for decades of work on black holes. Click here to learn more about their monumental achievement and about the history of our understanding of these exotic objects in space. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/nobel-prize-3-astrophysicists-black-holess-penrose-genzel-ghez…

Some Onions Were Too Sexy For Facebook

An error in Facebook’s automated system rejected a user’s picture of onions for being “overtly sexual.” The BBC reports: The Seed Company by EW Gaze, in St John’s, Newfoundland, had wanted to post a seemingly innocent advert for Walla Walla onion seeds on Facebook. But to their surprise, it was rejected for being “overtly sexual.” In a statement on Wednesday, the…

Astronomers find evidence planets start to form while infant stars are still growing

Astronomers have found compelling evidence that planets start to form while infant stars are still growing. The high-resolution image obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) shows a young proto-stellar disk with multiple gaps and rings of dust. This new result, just published in Nature, shows the youngest and most detailed example of dust rings acting as cosmic cradles, where…

Radish seeds, meats and cheeses launched to space station

A space station cargo ship rocketed into orbit Friday carrying a 360-degree camera for spacewalking, radish seeds for growing and a smorgasbord of fancy meats and cheeses for feasting. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-10-radish-seeds-meats-cheeses-space.html…

11 Fall Vegetables You Should Start Planting Now

Thinking of planting some fall vegetables? Here is a list of some veggies that you can add in your homestead, for a delicious fall harvest. RELATED: How to Plant Cauliflower this Fall Fruits and Vegetables Perfect For the Fall Season 1. Beets Beets are one of the most ideal crops for a fall harvest. You…Continue Reading
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