While Genetically Modified Foods Quietly Proliferate, Disquieting Questions Remain

The promise of the potential benefits of genetic modified (GMO) plants (and animals and even plant/animal hybrids) is indeed tempting. Imagine combining the genes responsible for drought resistence of, say, sagebrush or yucca, with rice or corn. The result could potentially be the utilization of vast tracts of Nevada, for example, for intensive food production that would have been extremely difficult to impossible given the vast periods of time that would be necessary for selective breeding to accomplish the same goal.

An example of a plant-animal hybrid gene is an anti-freeze gene taken from fish that was added to tobacco and potatoes to avoid frost damage. Genetic engineering can also be used to enhance a plant’s resistence to disease, insects, chemical exposures (such as herbicides) and so on.

The most tauted example of a benefit and apparent success of genetically modified food crops is so-called “golden rice,” a rice variant that is genetically altered, through the addition of daffodil and bacterium genes, to contain high amounts of Vitamin A (Wikipedia – Genetically Modified Food). Another particularly tempting benefit has been the genetic engineering of poplar trees to remove heavy metal contamination from polluted soils.

Are Genetically Modified Foods Safe?

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After Stab in the Back, Geothermal Poised for a Comeback

Whenever alternative energy is mentioned, solar and wind energy come most immediately to mind. Yet as promising as the futures for these energies may be, most Americans may not be aware that geothermal energy has been extensively utilized in the past and present. Moreover, its future appears to be virtually unlimited and initial capital outlay for its development might well be the most cost-effective of all alternative energy sources.

In a story that received very little media coverage at the time and even less coverage when the Bush Administration pulled funding for geothermal research shortly after, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) released a study concluding that a proposed form of geothermal extraction they referred to as “heat mining” could “provide a substantial portion of the electricity that the United States will need in the future.” Furthermore, the MIT study concluded that “heat mining” could do so “probably at competitive prices and with minimal environmental impact.”

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Star Trek and Helium-3, Will Moon Mining Save the World?

Star Trek (2009)’s box office has already reached $80 million, received unanimously glowing reviews, as well as a few that might be over-the-top, such as the one that declared it is now cool to be a Trekkie. Now that space exploration is once again in the popular imagination, however, it might be useful to consider what, if any, contribution space science might be able bring to the energy, economic and environmental challenges that face mankind here on earth.

Many are probably aware that the earliest research with solar photovoltaics was a result of the space program. Some are no doubt aware that the monitoring of the effects of global warming would be considerably more haphazard and certainly less scientific without the use of satellite surveillance. Few, however, are likely aware that the Apollo 17 moon landing in 1972 revealed a potential alternative energy source that could provide almost unimaginable power production that would come with an almost neglible environmental risk. Best of all for Trekkies, exploitation of that resource would necessitate mining on the moon, a staple of sci-fi lure.

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