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rainwater catchment

Rain is seeded by bacteria (Bill Mollison was right? Go figure)

Posts: 23

Location: Perth, Australia

posted 8 years ago

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I thought this might be interesting. Bill Mollison said in his 1986 PDC that bacteria seeded rain, in particular a very spiky one (I've temporarily forgotten the name) that tends to increase risk of frost "on strawberries".

Now the science is being done. 30 years late!

"You'll have to judge for yourself [whether I have a sense of humour]. I have something I use for one. It serves my simple purposes." -Robert A Heinlein: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Pg40

Jarret Hynd

pollinator

Posts: 232

Location: Sask, Canada - Zone 3b

posted 8 years ago

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I had butchered the spelling after trying to sound it out, but after a few minutes of googling: Pseudomonas Syringae

I watched one of his mid-2000 lectures recently, so this is still fresh in my mind. As some extra backstory, he mentioned how "Americans took the bacterium and altered it to be round instead of spiky which made it unable to create ice. They then sprayed it on the strawberries. They got rid of the frost, but now it doesn't rain in California anymore either." That's at least what I had in my jot-notes.

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Rodger Pilkington

Posts: 23

Location: Perth, Australia

posted 8 years ago

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Jarret Hynd wrote:I had butchered the spelling after trying to sound it out, but after a few minutes of googling: Pseudomonas Syringae

I watched one of his mid-2000 lectures recently, so this is still fresh in my mind. As some extra backstory, he mentioned how "Americans took the bacterium and altered it to be round instead of spiky which made it unable to create ice. They then sprayed it on the strawberries. They got rid of the frost, but now it doesn't rain in California anymore either." That's at least what I had in my jot-notes.

Exactly! He predicted this outcome in the 1986 PDC. Too bad this proud moment is marred by (suspected) environmental destruction.

"You'll have to judge for yourself [whether I have a sense of humour]. I have something I use for one. It serves my simple purposes." -Robert A Heinlein: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Pg40

Greg Martin

steward

Posts: 3548

Location: Maine, zone 5

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posted 8 years ago

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Jarret Hynd wrote:As some extra backstory, he mentioned how "Americans took the bacterium and altered it to be round instead of spiky which made it unable to create ice. They then sprayed it on the strawberries. They got rid of the frost, but now it doesn't rain in California anymore either." That's at least what I had in my jot-notes.

Dang, anyone know if there has been any measurements of the persistence and extent of the modified bacteria in California? That would be an incredible study if it demonstrated a relationship.

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