industryterm:biotechnology

Why your streetlights won’t be replaced by glowing trees any time soon #biotechnology #light #cost
http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/04/why-your-streetlights-wont-be-replaced-by-glowing-trees-anytime-soon

The Hindu : Opinion / Lead : GM crops are no way forward
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article3812825.ece?homepage=true

Food security is not about production alone; it is also about bio-safety, and access to food for the poorest

We are predominantly an agricultural economy, with the agricultural sector providing employment and subsistence to almost 70 per cent of the workforce. There have been some remarkable contributions from the agriculture sector to food grain production in the last six decades, when from a meagre 50 million tonnes in the 1950s, the country has been able to produce a record 241 million tonnes in 2010-2011. Despite these achievements, the condition of the farming community is pitiable considering that 70 per cent of our farmers are small and marginal, and there is a complete absence of pro-farmer/pro-agriculture policies which has led us to an environment of very severe agrarian distress.

#Inde #OGM #politique_agricole

New report: Genetic engineering is dangerous for health and the environment | Social Watch
http://www.socialwatch.org/node/15162

A new study entitled “GMO myths and truths” challenges the conventional wisdom that “critics of genetically engineered food are anti-science”, reported Earth Open Source. The study produced by Dr Michael Antoniou, Dr John Fagan and Claire Robinson presents a large body of peer-reviewed scientific and other authoritative evidence of hazards to health and the environment posed by genetically engineered crops and organisms (GMOs).

Unusually, the initiative for the report came not from campaigners but from Antoniou and Fagan, two genetic engineers who believe there are good scientific reasons to be wary of GM foods and crops.

#OGM #agrobusiness #santé #environnement #pesticides

Biotech report says IP spurs innovation : Nature
http://blogs.nature.com/news/2012/06/intellectual-property-spurs-innovation.html

Some people say that patents on intellectual property (IP) stifle progress when they occur at early phases of research. However, history suggests the opposite, according to a report presented at the 2012 BIO International Convention in Boston, Massachusetts.

un rapport pro-#propriété_intellectuelle (ça nous change un peu)

#science #recherche #biotechnologies

Monsanto may lose GM soya royalties throughout Brazil
http://www.nature.com/news/monsanto-may-lose-gm-soya-royalties-throughout-brazil-1.10837

The biotechnology giant Monsanto is one step closer to losing billions of dollars in revenues from its genetically-modified (GM) Roundup Ready soya beans, following a ruling this week by the Brazilian Supreme Court of Justice.

In 2009, a consortium of farming syndicates from Rio Grande do Sul mounted a legal challenge to the levy, arguing that it is effectively an unjust tax on their businesses, and that it has proved impossible to keep Roundup Ready soya beans separate from conventional varieties. “The issue is that segregating GM and conventional soya is difficult, since the GM soya is highly contaminating,” says João Batista da Silveira, president of the Rural Syndicate of Passo Fundo, one of the leaders of the legal action.

#ogm #agrobusiness

Critics of Biotech Crops Proved Wrong - Harvard
http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/21807/critics_of_biotech_crops_proved_wrong.html

une défense des #OGM, par Calestous Juma, prof à Harvard, expert aux Nations Unies, membre de la Fondation Bill Gates :

the adoption of transgenic crops continues to expand at eight per cent per year (...) the fastest adoption rate of any technology in the history of modern agriculture.
(...) many of its [critics] were wrong to assume from the outset the risks of the technology were likely to outweigh its benefits. Emerging evidence runs counter to those fears.
Over the 1996–2010 period, biotechnology crops have reduced 443 million kilogrammes of pesticide use.
This did not only reduce the spraying of chemicals that destroyed biological diversity, but they also cut down harmful exposure by farmers.
Another major impact of the adoption of biotechnology crops has been reduction of carbon emissions.
In 2010 alone the world reduced 19 billion kilogrammes of carbon dioxide due to the use of biotechnology crops. This is the equivalent to taking about nine million cars off the road. The world also reduced its use of land by 91 million hectares by adopting the crops.

#biotechnologies #agriculture #afrique

Vu dans le flux un outil qui sert aux échanges instantanés ici : #OTR - permet le chiffrement, outils qui existent déjà depuis plusieurs années. voir http://www.cypherpunks.ca/otr - cryptographie vs. DPI c’est une des grandes oppositions qui montent alors que l’existence d’une surveillance approfondie des communications est de plus en plus documentée dans tous les pays ; le chiffrement et la #cryptographie faisant l’objet de nombreuses présentations sur le 28c3, dans ses aspects techniques comme politiques et sociaux.

Va commencer d’ailleurs une présentation de la censure de TOR par certains gouvernements :
http://events.ccc.de/congress/2011/Fahrplan/events/4800.en.html
Sauf erreur c’est aussi une des seules présentations autour des « Printemps arabes » - dont peu d’acteurs sont référencés au Congrès (peu présents aussi, à ma connaissance)

Demain est annoncé du sport avec la présentation d’un Français, Eric Filliol, qui dit avoir démontré des vulnérabilités du réseau TOR http://events.ccc.de/congress/2011/Fahrplan/events/4581.en.html
Présentation qui a été faite (peut-être dans une autre version) au Brésil en octobre
https://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/researchers-demonstrate-tor-network-hijack-method-102411
et dont les tenants et aboutissants sont largement discutés : http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=310737
et contestés par la Fondation TOR
https://blog.torproject.org/blog/rumors-tors-compromise-are-greatly-exaggerated

Le débat est intéressant car il souligne les enjeux d’outils qui passaient peu à la connaissance du grand public par le passé. Alors que TOR a par exemple été très employé dans le cours des « Révolutions arabes » - c’est aussi un outil très présent dans la galaxie Wikileaks et ses suites. Il semblerait qu’en dépit de ce qu’affirme Filliol TOR reste un outil de choix, davantage que les VPN qui sont susceptibles d’être compromis à des niveaux multiples
voir là : http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-22/china-based-hacking-of-760-companies-shows-cyber-cold-war.html
et
http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/security/3325422/ibahn-denies-hotel-internet-hack-aimed-at-travelling-executives

mais aussi responsabilités de VPN de remettre les logs de leurs clients à la justice, en particulier avec les tentatives de mise en place de législations plus restrictives autour du copyright (débat sur la #SOPA aux Etats-Unis) : http://www.industryleadersmagazine.com/the-stop-online-piracy-act-what-industry-leaders-can-do-abo

D’où volonté de certains groupes hacktivistes d’aller voir du côté des #darknets (internets « alternatifs »), notamment Telecomix qui veut remettre en cause la hiérachie http://dns.telecomix.org ; débat également repris par @Stephane Bortzmeyer ici-même
http://seenthis.net/messages/47785

2.6g 329m/s, aka the ’bulletproof skin’ - we make money not art http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2011/01/26g-329ms.php

“alila Essaidi is teaming up with the Forensic Genomics Consortium Netherlands to provide transgenic human skin with a layer of spider-silk embedded in between the epidermis and dermis. The work purposely asks whether this technological innovation is socially desirable”