Waching daily Sep 29 2017

Hello, my name is Jaap van Milgen. I'm working at INRA in France, and I'm the coordinator

of the Feed-a-Gene project. Feed-a-Gene is a project funded by the European Commission

and it deals with adapting the feed, the animal and the feeding techniques to improve the

efficiency and the sustainability of monogastric livestock production systems

"Feed-a-Gene" has 3 words and the 2 main words are the main disciplines that we are working on

in the project. It's about feeding and nutrition and about the genetics, and the word "a" could

mean that we are trying to nourish the gene by nutrition,

and in a way we try to do that. But it's much

more than that. The 2 resources that we are using, the genes, the genetic resource and

the feed resource, how can we combine these?

It's the direct link, the different aspects that we have to address, including feeding

techniques but also the sustainability of livestock production systems. Feed-a-Gene involves

many partners, in total 23 partners are in the project. They come from different countries:

Denmark, the UK, The Netherlands, France, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary and China

And they all have different expertise and knowledge areas so the partitioning of different

tasks varies depending on the country.

The interaction among work packages is something very important

We have 6 different scientific work packages. There's one work package dealing

with new traits that are indicative for feed efficiency or robustness of the animal or

of livestock production systems. And these indicators of efficiency can be used

for instance in animal breeding programmes. That is one example of an interaction between

2 of the 6 scientific work packages in Feed-a-Gene. Another one is where we develop models of

nutrient use, how animal use nutrients, how animals vary in the use of nutrients And this

is also an aspect that we are using in precision livestock farming feed systems, which is another

work package of the Feed-a-Gene project

The EU, in a broad sense, wanted to make better use of natural resources

They asked for new techniques related to feeding, related

to genetics, related to potential innovation capacities, new technologies. And they also

wanted to have, which is very important, stakeholder implication, and end-user implication in the

project. So Feed-a-Gene involves many different partners, academic partners, it involves industry

partners, it involves also extension services.

We are working on monogastric animals, so

most of these production sectors are very industrialized. Part of the results of the

Feed-a-Gene project will be taken up by industries, stakeholders that have a direct impact on

monogastric livestock production systems. I really hope that, at the end of the project

and in the years after the project, in the 5 to 10 years after, we can see practices

or technological developments being used in the market. Feed-a-Gene is not a project in

which we will develop full-fledged solutions. In the European language they talk about TRL

levels, Technology Readiness Levels. We're going up to level 5, perhaps 6, and to put it to market

it has to go to level 9. So it's up to society at large to pick up the ideas that we initiate,

that we develop, and bring it to products that can be used in agriculture in general

The challenge in the project is that we are dealing with people from different disciplines

One challenge is to try to understand each other, that a geneticist understands what

people in nutrition are saying and that a person with expertise in economic science

understands the issues that geneticists or engineers come up with. And I think it's really

the understanding that is crucial and as long as people are open-minded I have no doubt

that it will succeed. Personally the most exciting aspect of the project is working with all

these people from different disciplines. It's not specifically any scientific aspect although

I have expertise in a certain domain. For me, personally, the most exciting thing is working

with people from different disciplines and trying to get them to work together and understand

each other.

For more infomation >> What is Feed-a-Gene? A presentation by Jaap van Milgen - Duration: 5:13.

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Natalie Eder of Halstead Academy is the September winner of the ABC2 Teachers Are Heroes award - Duration: 2:26.

For more infomation >> Natalie Eder of Halstead Academy is the September winner of the ABC2 Teachers Are Heroes award - Duration: 2:26.

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Plant Guardians: What it is and how to make one for yourself - Duration: 10:22.

what's up Internet

welcome to fiction forge the show that

teaches you a new power every week

probably on our last episode we showed

you how to make your own paper clay and

in this episode we're going to show you

a few techniques for sculpting with it

a plant guardian is something we came up

with that'll really make your plant

stand out all you need to do is choose a

guardian and a suitable plant and you're

ready to get started here is the big guy

from our last episode we referenced from

a bunch of great art online to find

characteristics that matched our plant

creature theme

then I merged all the bits we liked

into a prototype sketch here are eight

steps we use from this point to make it

a reality

first we made the negative space for the

plants to live in out of some aluminium

foil we also used some steel wire to add

support for the limbs kind of like its

bones and then it was a lengthy process

of covering the frame with paper clay

allowing to dry to create a rigid base

to sculpt over removing the aluminium

foil sculpting the fine detail adding

texture and setting incorporated objects

allow details to dry adding some weather

proofing and some color and finally

filling it with soil and planting

there are a few things to keep in mind

when picking your plants and your

guardian will it be indoors or outdoors

outdoor guardians need a little more

waterproofing if it's indoors

make sure your plant will get enough

light and excess water has someplace to

run off make sure the body of the

guardian has enough space to house the

soil and the plant make sure your

guardian will be stable enough to

support itself keep in mind the size the

plant will grow to and the level of care

it will need and try to find a plant

that matches the aesthetic you want to

go for with your guardian let's make one

together so you can get the hang of it

this one is inspired by =arvalis'

version of a Bulbasaur from Pokemon see

the description for a link to their

deviantART page we think a small

succulent like an aloe will be happy and

look great inside now let's get started

and make a plant guardian we've worked

out how large we want it to be so now we

can form the basic shape with aluminium

foil make sure not to compress the foil

too much or it'll be very difficult to

remove later you can use wire to give

strength to limbs and attach foil to

build up the form but for this guy just

the foil and the legs should be strong

enough we then mold the paper clear on

the foil base the less fine putty is

perfect for this kind of job because not

too much detail is needed yet remember

to make an opening somewhere to remove

the foil and insert the plant when it's

dry we can now pop it in the oven or hit

it with a hair dryer to speed up the

drying process when it's solid we can

refine the shape of it so it more

closely resembles the thing we're making

so we're gonna harvest a few of these

nice spikes off this cactus because

sculpting consistent spikes can be quite

challenging especially trying to get

them all the same shape and size so

we're just going to give ourselves a

little bit of a head start and just

harvest a few straight off this cactus

all kinds of things from nature can be added to

achieve different effects for instance

thorns make awesome horns or teeth and

there are so many shapes and sizes if

you have a look around

pop the thorns into the wet clay to

create sockets for later now is a good

time to make sockets for the marble eyes

to sit in some pliers in a twisting

motion are good for getting rid of the

tinfoil inside this swirly marble makes

a particularly effective reptilian eye

beads and buttons can also be effective

for this I find a bit of wire bent to

shape is often a great way to sculpt

details and add texture now use a bit

more clay to lock the eyes and horns

into position

and then we repeat the process for the

tail spikes

now we stick our improvised teeth into

the mouth with a bit of wood glue we can

add some ridges to the front and back to

create a shell for him pinching the

edges of the shell to create some

unevenness adds a bit of character then

I built up a second Ridge and connected

the raised bits with some ridges

I made a few different sized wire loops

to add some diversity to the scales

once again as you can see a bit of bent

wire gets the job done now we repeat the

process with the wire loops on the rest

of his exposed skin to create the rest

of his scales

once it's dry you can refine the shape a

bit with some sandpaper for this guy the

legs make perfect drainage holes I used

a bit of black acrylic paint to

waterproof the inside a couple coats is

recommended as this is important now you

can paint a pattern to later cover with

the translucent paint we find adding a

bit of food coloring into some wood glue

creates a very vibrant translucent paint

you get great results and it's

definitely worth trying out

notice how the areas that were left

white are especially vibrant under the

translucent paint the blistering caused

by scorching the wet wood glue creates

some very realistic organic textures now

it's time to cover the rest of his body

in a green acrylic base coat

and then dry brush over the scales toes

and inside the mouth with some white

acrylic to accentuate them under the

translucent paint

repeat the process with the wood glue

and blowtorch on the toes horns and

teeth to give them a realistic weathered

appearance

then we cover the entire outer surface

with a layer of water-based glaze coat

and once that's dry it's finally time to

fill it with some potting soil and add

our living component ahh majestic

Soot Gotcha how did he find out about this

he must have seen us on his prodedex

oh no bro he got your dog I know bro got my freaking

dog he can't do that he can't take your

dog where you going with my dog get him

that's all for this episode we hope you

enjoyed it and maybe learned a few

things too join us next time and we'll

show you a few cool ways to use silicone

in your project

let us know in the comments below what

you thought of this episode and what you

would like to see us do in the future we

would love to see any Guardians you guys

create so please hit us up on our SOSH

hope to see you around the forge in the

future and remember keep it tight

For more infomation >> Plant Guardians: What it is and how to make one for yourself - Duration: 10:22.

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Is Sodium Lauryl Sulfate Safe? - Duration: 4:22.

For more infomation >> Is Sodium Lauryl Sulfate Safe? - Duration: 4:22.

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Tom Cruise: "My Butt Is Not Fake in Valkyrie" - Duration: 1:40.

Tom Cruise: "My Butt Is Not Fake in Valkyrie"

Tom Cruises ass is looking extra luscious in a screen grab from his new movie, Valkyrie, and the internet is aflame with speculation that its not his actual butt.

I mean, check it out — it looks like two puppies fighting over some cantaloupes. (Dont think about that sentence too much.)

If thats his real ass, then sign me up! (For what, I dont know! To hug it?!)

In an interview Screen Rant, Cruise said thats 100-percent Grade A Real Tom Cruise Butt and he doesnt know where the rumors of it being a prosthetic came from.

"I have no idea. There was no prosthetic in Valkyrie. No," he said.

He also says his bare behind in American Made is all him, too.

"It's me. It's not CGI, it's me," he said.

"I do my own mooning in films. So let it be known – I do my own mooning."

There you have it — Tom does his own mooning and theres no if, ands, or butts about it! (I WILL NOT APOLOGIZE FOR THAT SENTENCE.)

For more infomation >> Tom Cruise: "My Butt Is Not Fake in Valkyrie" - Duration: 1:40.

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This is CRISPR -- 2017 breakthrough junior challenge Shin Young Lee - Duration: 2:59.

Hello I'm Shin Jung Lee and today, I'm gonna introduce you about CRISPRs

So what is a crisper?

Crisper stands for clustered regularly interspaced

Short palindromic repeats now you'll get why scientists just call it crispers right crisper is a scissor of DNA

Now let's take a practical example for e.coli and bacteriophage. Now first

bacteriophage inserts its viral DNA into the cell membrane to duplicate more

bacteriophage which can kill the bacterium. But in the CRISPR locus if bacterium already has the same

information with viral DNA in spacer DNA so they

transcribe this DNA into RNA and forms a crisper RNA and for cas genes they transcribe and translate

protein, and they make cas protein now cast protein and crispr RNA(crRNA)

bonds together to form a complex

and they attaches to viral DNA and if the RNA and DNA's

Information matches, it breaks up the DNA

scientist Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuel Charpentier discovered this phenomenon while studying

streptococcus pyogenes. Now this bacterium do use cast 9 protein and crispr RNA

But they also use tracer RNA(tracrRNA) which holds the crispr RNA in place. So what they did is

They merged these two RNAs and named it tracer RNA and crispr RNA

chime(a)ra or guide RNA so how this works is first heliase breaks up the bond and

guide RNA sees if it matches the genetic information

And if it matches the nuclease which is an enzyme and depicted as scissors

Breaks of the bond. So what if the bond breaks? well the DNA attaches together.

So let's say a bond is broken up by

cas9 protein and guide RNA then the DNA either

adjusts the broken part by make little bit of change or mutation or it gets repaired with

The additional genetic information, so it can be used to cure diseases

now let's see how it works in DNA first the heliase the enzyme breaks of the double strand

and then the guide RNA sees if it matches the genetic information

And if it matches the nuclease breaks up the bond like this

So what happens to the broken DNA?

well, if there's an additional genetic information floating aside it then the DNA adapts it

and then to adjust it the DNA adds some more nuclear information like this