标题: Pollinators [打印本页] 作者: choi 时间: 3-7-2013 07:42 标题: Pollinators (1) Pollinators | Variety Is the Spice of Life; Encouraging wild and diverse insects is the best way to pollinate crops. Economist, Mar 2, 2013. http://www.economist.com/news/sc ... inate-crops-variety
Note:
(a) Regarding "Variety is the spice of life." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cowper
(1731-1800; English poet; section 1.3 Familiar quotations: "Variety's the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavour. [from] "The Task (1785)--'The Timepiece' (Book II, lines 606-7)")
(b) Garibaldi LA et al, Wild Pollinators Enhance Fruit Set of Crops Regardless of Honey Bee Abundance. Science, _: _ (published online Feb 28, 2013) http://www.sciencemag.org/conten ... e-a5ba-0a6e4f4cdf4c
("high abundance of managed honey bees supplemented, rather than substituted for, pollination by wild insects")
* You must have heard of Giuseppe Garibaldi. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Garibaldi
* garibaldi (n; First Known Use 1862):
"a woman's blouse copied from the red shirt worn by the Italian patriot Garibaldi" http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/garibaldi
Here is a photo of Garibaldi blouse. http://southroncreations.blogspo ... womans-garment.html
* The Italian surname from its region Liguria http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liguria
(Genoa is the capital)
means son of Garibaldo: "from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements gar, ger ‘spear’, ‘lance’ + bald ‘bold’, ‘brave.’"
Dictionary of American Family Names, by Oxford University Press.
* Liguria Region. http://en.comuni-italiani.it/07/
("The name comes from the Italic tribe of Ligures which originally settled in that area in the Iron Period")
(c) For cross polination, see pollination http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollination
(Pollination can be accomplished by cross-pollination or by self-pollination: Cross-pollination, also called allogamy, occurs when pollen is delivered to a flower from a different plant [of the same species])
(a) Excerpt in the window of print: 'Modern farming requires a complete change of thinking, away from a reliance on chemicals.' --Marco Lodesani
(b) Quote:
"Honeybees pollinate $201 billion worth of crops annually, according to the United Nations. Without them, we wouldn’t have almonds, cherries, tomatoes, nor 68 other crops that provide 90 percent of the planet’s food. That’s why it’s disconcerting that almost seven years after a sudden, unexplained plunge in North American and European bee populations first made headlines, the bees are still dropping dead.
"After poring through several years’ worth of scientific studies on the possible causes of what’s known as colony collapse disorder, the agency [European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)] in January stopped short of naming a culprit.
(c) Note:
(i) summary underneath the title in print: The EU may ban pesticides used by home gardeners and farmers
(ii) bête noire http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bête%20noire
(iii) Syngenta http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngenta
(Based in Basel, Switzerland, Syngenta was formed in 2000 by the merger of Novartis Agribusiness and Zeneca Agrochemicals; markets pesticides and genetically engineered seeds)
* Similar to Monsanto.
* Company History. Syngenta, undated. http://www.syngenta.com/global/c ... ompany-history.aspx
("Our name, Syngenta, has two distinct roots. 'Syn' stems from Greek. It reflects synergy and synthesis, integration, and consolidating strengths. 'Genta' relates to humanity and individuals. It stems from the Latin 'gens,' for people or community. So Syngenta means 'bringing people together'") 作者: choi 时间: 3-9-2013 11:55
James Gorman, Nectar That Gives Bees a Buzz Lures Them Back for More; Better pollination through a powerful natural chemical. New York Times, Mar 8, 2013.
Note: Chittka L and Peng F, Caffeine Boosts Bees' Memories. Science 339: 1157-1159 (Mar 8, 2013) (Perspective). http://www.sciencemag.org/content/339/6124/1157.full
(i) Written for laypersons, the pieces in the Perspective group point out significance in select scientific reports of that issue.
(ii) Mr Fei PENG is a PhD student of Prof Chittka.
(iii) The reviewers's affiliation is Queen Mary, Univerasity of London. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_London
(public; comprises 18 constituent colleges [including University College London and Queen Mary], 10 research institutes and a number of central bodies; the second-largest university in the United Kingdom by number of full-time students, with around 135,000 campus-based students and over 50,000 distance learning students)
(iv) Queen Mary is named after Mary of Teck http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_of_Teck
(1867-1953; cionsort of UK king George V; section 7 Legacy)
Quote: "After George's [V's] death in 1936, her eldest son Edward became king-emperor Edward VIII], but to her dismay he abdicated the same year in order to marry twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. She supported her second son, Albert, who succeeded to the throne as George VI, until his death in 1952. She died the following year, at the beginning of the reign of her granddaughter, Elizabeth II.
(vi) The English surname Kenyon is from a town of the same name "near Warrington[, Lancaster] which is of uncertain etymology."
(vii) Read this Perspective piece, and that is enough. There is no need to read the NYT report or scientific report (submitted by Wright).