Florida hurricane catastrophe fund

Updated 9:00 am PDT, Friday, April 19, 2019 FILE-This Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018 file satellite image provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Michael, center, in the Gulf of Mexico. Weather forecasters have posthumously upgraded last fall's Hurricane Michael from a Category 4 storm to a Category 5. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced the storm's upgraded status Friday, making Michael only the fourth storm on record to have hit the U.S. as a Category 5 hurricane. (NOAA via AP) less FILE-This Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018 file satellite image provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Michael, center, in the Gulf of Mexico. Weather forecasters have posthumously upgraded last fall's Hurricane Michael from a ... more Photo: AP Photo: AP Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Image 1 of 5 … [Read more...] about The Latest: Florida mayor not surprised Michael was a Cat 5

JAKE ELLISON, SFGATE.COM Published 3:52 pm PDT, Friday, October 12, 2018 Weaponized insects. A US military research program run by DARPA is spending millions to find ways to use insects to inject modified genes into plants, after they've started growing. "Such an unprecedented capability would provide an urgently needed alternative to pesticides, selective breeding, slash-and-burn clearing, and quarantine, which are often ineffective against rapidly emerging threats and are not suited to securing mature plants," DARPA writes. The program is called Insect Allies, and DARPA says it'll stay in protected labs. Editing plants genes in the field--as opposed to editing genes in a seed and living with what grows--with insects? What could possibly go wrong? less Weaponized insects. A US military research program run by DARPA is spending millions to find ways to use insects to inject modified genes into plants, after they've started growing. "Such an unprecedented ... more … [Read more...] about Weaponized bugs and other threats to human existence we should ponder