Kumar Selvaraj🌱👨🏽‍🔬🍃

#plantsci🧬#molbio #funlgenomics #path🔬🍄🏅#Horti🍅#agri #biotec🌾👨🏾‍🎓#TNAU #UPEI💚#sci👨‍👩‍👦👨🏽‍🌾👨🏽‍🏫🩸🅾🧘🏾‍♂️🚴‍♂️🏊‍♂️☕️🌎♻️

[Niko McCarty. @NikoMcCarty]

How to See Microbes from the Sky — Yonatan Chemla on Hyperspectral Biology

Scientists have studied bacteria under microscopes for 400 years. But Yonatan Chemla, a postdoctoral fellow at MIT, has developed a technology that lets us see microbes from a drone 100 meters in the air.

In this episode, we discuss the emerging field of "hyperspectral biology," which uses hyperspectral cameras (first built by NASA in the 1980s) to detect molecules with unique light-absorption signatures. With this technology, you could engineer a microbe to sense a landmine, for example, and release a pigment in response. A drone could then spot that pigment from hundreds of meters away, thus identifying the locations of the landmines.

By spraying other types of engineered microbes over a field, they could similarly map heavy metals, report on soil health, or find gold deposits. But almost none of this can happen in the United States.

The EPA regulates engineered microbes as chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act, a 1976 law that never mentions biology, and the agency seems to have approved just one product through it. As a result, many of biotechnology's most useful ideas — microbes that break down plastic, sense landmines, or remove pollution from water — never leave the laboratory.

This episode is much more casual than other podcasts I've recorded. We talked for many hours, into the early morning, and so I also feel like my lines of questioning are not as good as it could've been. The video quality is also not great; sorry!

Chapters:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:04:08 Applications for hyperspectral biology
00:07:33 How to build a biosensor
00:13:00 Molecular absorption data
00:22:12 How hyperspectral cameras work
00:38:15 Spatial resolution and satellite monitoring
00:51:04 Regulations around environmental release
01:08:44 Risk vs progress

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

Did you know that in Romania, trucks loaded with beehives are rented out to flower growers?

These massive rigs become mobile "bee hotels," buzzing with thousands of bees that pollinate fields of flowers and crops.

[Ronald van Loon @Ronald_vanLoon]

This Dutch Farm Is Redefining Sustainable Agriculture
by @wef

#AgriTech #TechForGood #Innovation #Tech #Technology

[The Nobel Prize @NobelPrize]

Happy pi approximation day!

Today's date, 22 July, can also be written as the fraction 22/7, which is equal to 3.14285714, an approximation of π, correct to two decimal places.

[euronews @euronews]

France becomes the first country in Europe to officially ban social media for under-15s.

Other EU countries such as Greece, Slovenia and Sweden are planning to restrict minors' access to social media.

[Brandon Luu, MD @BrandonLuuMD]

Women with just 1.36% dehydration experience substantial mood deterioration:

↑ Anger-hostility 8%
↑ Fatigue 17%
↓ Vigor 12%
↑ Mood disturbance 19%
↑ Task difficulty perception 58%
↓ Concentration 45%
↑ Headaches 2x

[Prof. Nikolai Slavov @slavov_n]

miRNA have multiple functions beyond their role in modulating translation.

[Prof. Nikolai Slavov @slavov_n]

Postdocs should be given opportunities to take initiatives and receive public recognition for their contributions and leadership.

We should only recruit postdocs when we are committed to actively support their scientific growth & career progression.

https://t.co/jt8EvKo2D2

[Meng Chen @MengChen_Lab]

In collaboration with Xuemei Chen's lab, we uncovered an essential role of microRNA156 in enabling plant growth plasticity in response to temperature and light changes -- https://t.co/MIPRCmJf2z. Congrats to all authors, and many thanks to our collaborators @Xuemei_RNAlab.

[Be the change you want to be @AgBioWorld]

Wheat vs. Rice in India

https://t.co/Z9WfWxLWfC

[Sam Knowlton @samdknowlton]

A real time plant response to pest attack.

Glutamate activates the movement of calcium ions throughout the plant which catalyzes the production of jasmonic acid, an insect antifeedant and plant protectant.

The first insect bite elicits an immediate plant wide defense response.

[Phys.org @physorg_com]

When it comes to science skepticism, there's no one-size-fits-all @SciReports https://t.co/BfnWotlzYh https://t.co/pPutOcjCDl

[GARNet UK Plant Science @GARNetweets]

Any members of the public who have concerns about #geneediting technology, please ask a Q below or by DM.

The scientific community want the public to be comfortable with the use of this exciting technology.

https://t.co/MyXvM5AvDa

[Forbes Science @ForbesScience]

A Psychologist Offers 2 Tips To Protect Yourself From An Academic Burnout https://t.co/Wi8ZeVH80K

[News from Science @NewsfromScience]

Hepatitis B combined with Ludwig van Beethoven’s heavy drinking may explain his liver disease and ultimately, his demise. https://t.co/z404xkJDMn

[ICAR2023 @ICAR_2023]

Registration and abstract submission have opened. 😀We are looking forward to your participation.🗾 Thanks🍀
https://t.co/h9TxBBM4cZ

[Damon Lisch @DamonLisch]

My son, who is color blind, sent me this resource. It really is worth keeping folks like him in mind when you make your figures. https://t.co/ZkUCcCJpcO

[Alberto Carbonell Lab @A_Carbonell_]

📣 My group has a 4-year PhD position @IBMCP to develop next-generation artificial small RNA-based RNAi for crop improvement. Preferred starting date: Feb-Mar 2023. Interested candidates contact @A_Carbonell_ with CV, motivation letter and 1-2 reference letters. Please RT! 😀