Have You Tried…?

Thirsty plants in some fields will be “texting” farmers’ cell phones this summer asking for water.

Accent Engineering, Inc., of Lubbock, Tex., developed the SmartCrop™ automated drought monitoring system based on a patent held by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS). They are offering it for sale in time for this growing season.

Battery-operated infrared thermometers placed in irrigated fields monitor leaf temperatures and relay that information to a computerized base station. A cell phone modem can be hooked up to the base station to download data to a personal computer. This modem can also send text messages to a farmer’s cell phone.

Each plant species has a fairly narrow range of internal temperatures it prefers for best growth. When leaf temperature goes above the upper limit or threshold of that range for too long, the plant needs water, as much for cooling down as to quench its thirst.

Farmers can choose the time-temperature threshold at which they would like to receive an alert, and adjust it at any time.

Source: Agricultural Research Service, USDA

The Italian word for witchcraft, Strega is also a fine liqueur of long-standing reputation. Dinstinctively yellow in color with a smooth and soft taste.

Distilled by the family Alberti in Benevento since 1840,  it is produced in small pot stills and fermented in oak vats using a closely guarded concoction of herbs and spcies that includes saffron, which gives the liqueur its distinctive solar complexion.

Excellent after a meal, it can be sipped dry, or with ice. As a flavoring, it is often added to ice cream, fruit salads and as ingredient in cake preparations.

The flowering buds of the Sichuan pepper, or the Sansho pepper, pack a powerful punch. Chopped or crumbled into small pieces, they can be used as a subsitute for pepper and chilies.

Washington Post staff writer Bonnie S. Benwick describes its flavor as follows:

Sensations from even one-eighth of a half-inch-long, deceptively innocuous little yellow nub will come in waves. There’s a grassy start, then a rush into Pop-Rocks territory as a tingling-slight numbing combo hits the back of the soft palate. Some people will feel the saliva-stimulating effects of the bud’s natural alkylamides; many report a cold-fresh finish in the throat that, like any good gift, keeps on giving long after the plant matter has disappeared down the hatch.

There was a huge rumble in the “stop hair loss” products industry in January 2007 when the FDA approved the HairMax Laser Comb® for promotion of hair growth in males with androgenetic alopecia (Norwood IIA to V with Fitzpatrick skin types I to IV). The FDA has only approved two other products as solutions to help stop hair loss, so this was indeed a major breakthrough. Why does the FDA believe this laser comb promotes hair growth?

The HairMax Laser Comb and other laser combs (there are many on the market), are successful in helping thinning, limp, and lack-luster hair with the use of Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) applied to the scalp and hair through a handheld comb (brush, or device depending on the product). Understanding how LLLT works is the key to understanding how laser combs help prevent hair loss and make hair thicker.

Low Lever Laser Therapy (LLLT) has been in use since the 1960’s and was developed by Endre Mester to improve the healing of wounds. Since that time, the use of LLLT for medical treatments has expanded for many other therapeutic uses including clinically proven prevention of hair loss.

The science behind low-level laser light comes from the compressed light from the cold red part of the light spectrum. This light is completely different from natural light. This light’s color is precise and exists on a single wavelength. Because it is on one wavelength, it travels in a perfectly straight and defined point.

Low-level laser light can penetrate the skin surface without damaging the skin; it does not give off heat and has no known side effects. This penetrating light’s energy stimulates the body’s cells and in the specific use of the laser comb, promotes healthy rejuvenation of hair.

Read more about Laser Combs

Tapas are small snacks served in a bar or tavern. Similar to hors’d'ourves and amuse bouche’ in France, anti-pasto in Italy, and meze in Greece and Turkey, these “little dishes” are an increasingly popular alternative to full-scale meals in restaurants or at home.

Unlike American bars, where customers snack on pretzels or popcorn with their drinks, the tapas served in Spain are a much more upscale presentation of marinated mozzarella balls, fried squid and miniature sandwiches served on small plates.

Although these small entrees are meant to be savored in small bites while sipping sangria with friends, they are often combined to create a complete meal.

Giant Miscanthus, a tall, perennial grass, is the sterile cross between two plants, and a mule is the sterile result of a cross between a horse and a donkey.

The $1 million question is whether Giant Miscanthus, like a mule, can take on a heavy load - in this case, the job of freeing the U.S. from its dependence on overseas petroleum. Giant Miscanthus is one of the leading candidates for cellulosic ethanol production.

University of Illinois researchers have successfully established Giant Miscanthus at northern, central and southern Illinois sites, ranging from DeKalb to Dixon Springs. .

A new U.S. $1 coin, bearing the likeness of George Washington, was pressed into circulation in time for 275th celebration of the first president’s birthday.

The Federal Reserve, distribution agent for the U.S. Mint, placed orders for 300 million of the Washington coins, which are gold in color and slightly larger and thicker than a quarter.

The design on the coin will change every three months, featuring a new president in the order in which they served.

After Washington, the presidents due to be honored in 2007 are John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. The program is scheduled to run into 2016. A former president must have been dead at least two years to appear on a coin.

Pecan oil will soon take its place alongside other cooking oils like corn, olive, peanut, canola and sunflower on grocer’s shelves.

“This healthy nut now has a new cooking product that, although not cheap, broadens the availability of pecan products on the market,” said Wojciech Florkowski, an agricultural economist with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Read more about pecan oil.

Can you eat your peppers and enjoy looking at them too?

Yes, you can.

Peppers don’t have to be just green and bell shaped and relegated to the supermarket shelf or home garden plot. This genus of plants has the genetic potential to provide a wide array of possibilities for the kitchen and the ornamental garden and sometimes both at once.

Since 1991, John Stommel, of the ARS Vegetable Laboratory, and Robert Griesbach, of the ARS Floral and Nursery Plants Research Unit, both in Beltsville, Maryland, have bred peppers to please both the eye and the palate.

The eye-catching Black Pearl, released in 2005 and honored as a 2006 All-America Selections (AAS) winner, attests to their success in developing new cultivars with both aesthetic and culinary appeal. The award recognizes new flower and vegetable varieties that demonstrate “superior garden performance” in trials conducted throughout the country.

Black Pearl is a robust plant, adaptable to environments from New England to California, Stommel says. In addition, it resists attacks from many insects and fungi and is remarkably drought-tolerant. It can also serve as a hot pepper for the kitchen, making it a dual purpose pepper for today’s smaller urban gardens. Since its release, more than 2 million seeds have been sold.

Black Pearl has company. Tangerine Dream is a sweet, edible ornamental pepper that produces small orange banana-shaped fruit on a prostrate plant.

Read more about the new ornamental peppers. 

Body jewelry is not merely a decorative fixture; it is also a personal style statement. You can use it to bring attention or to take away attention from a specific part of your body. It is quite in vogue these days and has been in existence since time immemorial. If you have the attitude and the panache you can carry of any kind of body jewelry.

Since ancient times body jewelry has been a part of the culture and heritage of different religions. It has been known to be an essential part of the clothing and appearance of the people in many regions of the world. At different parts of time through the centuries it was also used to signify the class demarcations prevalent in society at that point of time.

More about body jewelry