Aube Solar Timer

If you have a tendency to forget to turn on the lights and sit in the dark, you might need a gadget to help you remember to turn on those pesky high maintenance lights.  I say that jokingly, but I actually know people that just flat out don’t want to get up to turn on the light.  This gadget will make your light kick on at the exact moment the sun starts to set.  Which means you’ll never have to deal with the dark again.  Granted you could just get up and turn on the light, but where’s the fun in that?

Not only does it kick on for you, if you want the lights to be either on or off when they’re not, there is a manual override switch.  Which means if it’s a little gloomy out that day, you can kick the lights on a little early.  It doesn’t work by a sensor that lets it know it’s dark outside, instead you just punch in your location.  It has a built-in clock that will figure out when the sun sets in your area.  However, it doesn’t actually adjust for daylight savings time.  You can pick it up for $39.99 on SmartHome.

New eyewear from Vusix

Vuzix continue to expand their personal video wear lineup with the new Wrap 920AV. They’re semi-transparent (i.e. they act like conventional sunglasses) so you can wear them as you stumble walk around in the real world.

Vuzix are selling them as “Augmented reality” devices (they’re at least 5 years too soon for that to really work) but since they’re actually pretty comfortable to wear and have a very good picture I can see them being bought as straightforward personal video screens.

The new model that’s not on the website yet is the VR1440. An upgrade to the already popular VR920, it’s display is 800×600 native resolution and will take a PC resolution of up to 1600×1200. Combining 3D display and headtracking it would make a compelling accessory for flight simulator fans.

Two breakthroughs in rice science

Rice, the world’s most important staple crop, recently was the subject of a tremendous speculative boom-and-bust cycle, with prices going through the roof a few months ago, and collapsing today. This volatility leaves both small farmers and entire states vulnerable. However, two scientific breakthroughs in rice crop science may give producers and consumers alike a new weapon against this volatility. They may also go a far way in solving hunger.

In a first development, scientists from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) report that they have found a way to “waterproof” versions of popular varieties of rice, which can withstand 2 weeks of complete submergence. This can double crop output and can save millions of tonnes of rice from losses, which is enough to feed tens of millions of people. In another exciting breakthrough, a PhD student at the University of Alberta found a way to make upland rice double its yield in dry areas, where the crop is grown by some of the world’s poorest.

In short, two of the biggest problems – flood intolerance and drought intolerance – associated with the two most common rice growing techniques – paddy and upland – have been solved. Interestingly, the the water-proof crops are not genetically modified, but created by precision breeding.

Flood-tolerance
The waterproof rice crops have passed tests in farmers’ fields with flying colors (see time-laps video for a short-cut). Several of these varieties are now close to official release by national and state seed certification agencies in Bangladesh and India, where farmers suffer major crop losses because of flooding of up to 4 million tons of rice per year. This is enough rice to feed 30 million people.

The flood-tolerant versions of the so-called “mega-varieties” — high-yielding varieties popular with both farmers and consumers that are grown over huge areas across Asia — are effectively identical to their susceptible counterparts, but recover after severe flooding to yield well.

A 1-9 November tour of research stations and farms in Bangladesh and India led by David Mackill, senior rice breeder at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), marked the successful completion of the project titled “From genes to farmers’ fields: enhancing and stabilizing productivity of rice in submergence-prone environments”, funded for the past 5 years by Germany’s German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The new varieties were made possible following the identification of a single gene that is responsible for most of the submergence tolerance. Thirteen years ago, Dr. Mackill, then at the University of California (UC) at Davis, and Kenong Xu, his graduate student, pinpointed the gene in a low-yielding traditional Indian rice variety known to withstand flooding. Xu subsequently worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Pamela Ronald, a UC Davis professor, and they isolated the specific gene—called Sub1A—and demonstrated that it confers tolerance to normally intolerant rice plants. Dr. Ronald’s team showed that the gene is switched on when the plants are submerged:

A geneticist from UC Riverside, Julia Bailey-Serres, is leading the work to determine exactly how Sub1A confers flood tolerance. “Sub1A effectively makes the plant dormant during submergence, allowing it to conserve energy until the floodwaters recede,” said Dr. Bailey-Serres.

Typically, rice plants will extend the length of their leaves and stem in an attempt to escape submergence. The Sub1A gene is an evolutionarily new gene in rice found in only a small proportion of the rice varieties originating from eastern India and Sri Lanka. The activation of this gene under submergence counteracts the escape strategy.

“This project has been a great success, not only in its results but also in the truly international collaboration that made the project possible,” said Dr. Mackill, referring to the several national organizations, including the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, India’s Central Rice Research Institute and Narendra Dev University of Agriculture and Technology.

The potential for impact is huge. In Bangladesh, for example, 20% of the rice land is flood prone and the country typically suffers several major floods each year. Submergence-tolerant varieties could make major inroads into Bangladesh’s annual rice shortfall and substantially reduce its import needs. – Dr. Mackill

Using modern techniques that allow breeders to do much of their work in the lab rather than the field, Dr. Mackill and his team at IRRI were able to precisely transfer Sub1A into high-yielding varieties without affecting the characteristics—such as high yield, good grain quality, and pest and disease resistance—that made the varieties popular in the first place.

The impact is evident for farm families as well as at a national production level. To be part of this project as it has moved from a lab in California to rice fields in Asia has been inspiring and underscores the power of science to improve people’s lives. – Dr. Ronald

Because plants developed through this “precision breeding,” known as marker-assisted selection, are not genetically modified organisms (GMOs), the new Sub1 varieties are not subject to the regulatory testing that can delay release of GMOs for several years.

Once Sub1 varieties are officially released within the next 2 years, the key will be dissemination to smallholder farmers in flood-prone areas. IRRI is leading this initiative through a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Drought-tolerance
From too much water, to not enough of it: Jerome Bernier, a PhD student in the University of Alberta Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, has found a group of genes in rice that enables a yield of up to 100 per cent more in severe drought conditions. Doubling the output of these upland rice crops is a major step forward for some of the world’s poorest, who try to grow the crop in the most distressed areas.

The discovery marks the first time this group of genes in rice has been identified, and could potentially bring relief to farmers in countries like India and Thailand, where rice crops are regularly faced with drought. Rice is the number one crop consumed by humans annually.

The results of the study were published recently in the plant sciences journal Euphytica. Bernier’s research began four years ago and focused on upland rice, which, unlike the majority of rice crops, grows in non-flooded, dry fields. “If drought hits, the yield can drop to almost nothing,” Bernier said. He too conducted his research at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, in conjunction with scientists there and in India.

He started with 126 genetic markers and narrowed his search to a group of genes that had the desired impact. In very severe drought conditions, rice strains with the new genes were shown to produce twice as those strains that did not have the genes. The new genes stimulate the rice plants to develop deeper roots, enabling it to access more of the water stored in the soil.

“For subsistence farmers who rely on the crop to feed their families, this extra yield can make a world of difference,” said Bernier.

Less loss to drought may also mean an increased supply of rice globally, said Dean Spaner, Bernier’s project supervisor and a professor of agricultural, food and nutritional science at the University of Alberta.

The young scientist’s research was funded in part by the Canadian International Development Agency and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is the world’s leading rice research and training center. Based in the Philippines, with offices in 13 other countries, IRRI is an autonomous, nonprofit institution focused on improving the well-being of present and future generations of rice farmers and consumers, particularly those with low incomes, while preserving natural resources.

More than 195,000 wind turbines to appear outside homes by 2020

More than 195,000 wind turbines will spring up outside homes across Britain over the next 12 years, according to energy advisers, after the Government pledged to pay people for generating their own electricity.

A “feed-in tariff” will be introduced to ensure any household generating power through renewable power sources like wind, solar or biomass will be paid for the energy they produce, as part of measures to tackle climate change.

The Energy Saving Trust, the independent body in charge of improving energy efficiency in the UK, predicted that the introduction of the tariffs could persuade 8.6 million people – around a quarter of households – to invest in combined heat and power, wind turbines or other low carbon technologies.

Most of the “micro-generation” will be done through installing combined heat and power (CHP) boilers that heat the home by generating electricity from fuel or gas.

However, wind turbines and solar panels are also expected to become part of the landscape in the rush to “micro-renewables”.

The EST study predicts 195,100 wind turbines will be installed over the next 12 years. Some 112,000 will be small enough to be attached to the roof, while 83,000 will be bigger free-standing models.

A further 921,000 households will install solar panels to heat water and generate electricity. And 805,000 will invest in air source heat pumps, usually installed outside the home.

Environment campaigners said the expected boom in microrenewables will help the UK to meet ambitious targets to cut greenhouse emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.

However, heritage groups said the rush to build micro-renewables like wind turbines must be done sensitively to protect historic buildings and the countryside.

At the moment just 100,000 homes in the UK have installed microgeneration, which is thought to be partly because there is no guarantee of payment for electricity produced.

In Germany, where feed-in tariffs have already been introduced, more than one million households generate their own electricity.

Earlier this month, Ed Miliband, the new energy and climate change minister, added feed-in tariffs to the Energy Bill currently going through Parliament.

The EST predict that if the tariffs are introduced by the end of next year and offered high enough rates per unit of electricity fed produced, 8.6m people would install micro-generators.

If other measures were introduced, such as advice for home owners, improved technologies and a requirement for new zero carbon homes to produce their energy on-site, the number of British homes producing their own clean energy could multiply to ten million – about one in every three households – within 12 years.

This would save 10m tonnes of carbon emissions and help the UK towards its 2050 target.

Dave Timms, of environment campaign group Friends of the Earth, said micro-generation must be a key part of the UK’s drive to cut carbon emissions.

He said the tariffs must be introduced as soon as possible and the price per unit of energy produced set high enough to make investment in the technology worthwhile.

Also, larger microgenerators should be paid to encourage communities and businesses to invest in the new technology.

Adrian Dobson, director of practice at the Royal Institute of British Architects, said renewables can offer energy savings but he urged caution in installing the turbines on important buildings.

“As wind turbine technology becomes more sophisticated it is anticipated that there will be greater take-up of these devices by home owners. Although care will be needed in the siting of such equipment, it should be possible to sensitively integrate wind turbines without any significant detriment to the amenity of neighbours.

“The visual impact of wind turbines will need to be considered by architects and home owners, particularly for example in the context of conservation areas.”

Neil Sinden, policy director at Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: “Even through micro-wind turbines are small they can have a damaging effect on character and quality of rural settlements.

“All the evidences shows that the turbines are not efficient. We would promote micro-renewables of a less intrusive nature such as ground source heat pumps and solar and that do not detract from the quality and character of built up areas.”

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