<div dir="ltr">I have a friend who is a long-time ento and researcher at a major Texas university, and when I sent him the story about the dragonfly drones a couple of weeks ago, he replied as follows, and I think his response still mostly applies to THIS story (he's probably still laughing, although he'd certainly agree with Barbara, just as we do): <div><br></div><div>"<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:calibri,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px">Engineers just don't have a clue when it comes to life sciences outside the lab. These technological feats may actually be possible, but the amount of time and money spent getting the hardware mounted to the wetware and making it function would be prohibitive except as a demonstration. Even then, the chance of a cyborg bug living long enough to do anything useful is remote. The first robber fly, flycatcher or even another dragonfly seeing the impaired drone would make a quick meal of it. As for being useful in bee health or CCD, they may as well have said it would be useful in the fight against zika. Or ear wax. You can bet the work is sponsored by DARPA or DoD and their PR flacks came up with that idea. Just add the right key words and the press will pick up on your story. Geez... I think we are safe from such science for another couple decades. Thanks for the laugh </span><img class="gmail-m_-7514177401126486030gmail-m_-7890330012505554140EmojiInsert gmail-m_-7514177401126486030gmail-CToWUd" id="gmail-m_-7514177401126486030gmail-m_-7890330012505554140OWAEmoji86308" alt="😊" src="cid:21b51c2c-8bef-4034-b2eb-3318cc193021" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: calibri, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: bottom;">"</div><div><br></div><div>Carrie</div><div><br></div><div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><div style="font-size:12.8px;color:rgb(136,136,136)"><font color="#000000" face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Carrie McLaughlin</font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px;color:rgb(136,136,136)"><font color="#000000" face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">TEXAS POLLINATOR POWWOW, Coordinator</font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px;color:rgb(136,136,136)"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000ff"><a href="mailto:carrie@texaspollinatorpowwow.org" target="_blank">carrie@texaspollinatorpowwow.o<wbr>rg</a></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px;color:rgb(136,136,136)"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000ff"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/texaspollinatorpowwow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/texas<wbr>pollinatorpowwow</a><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px;color:rgb(136,136,136)"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000ff"><a href="http://www.texaspollinatorpowwow.org/" target="_blank">http://www.texaspollinatorpoww<wbr>ow.org</a></font></div><p class="gmail-m_-4130659155198643623gmail-m_4536337197822658632gmail-m_900804126956621675gmail-m_4468715423587427650gmail-m_-5132861520914982400gmail-m_-7767940587665113352gmail-m_7556187913221579962gmail-m_7594654103273889618gmail-m_8116770917308700592gmail-m_-5689740228886627535gmail-m_3748690689724094617gmail-m_5850056549686459857gmail-m_-1221058679600053438gmail-m_-1971820681129565851gmail-font_7" style="font-size:12.8px;margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;font-stretch:normal;line-height:1.5em;font-family:helvetica-w01-light,helvetica-w02-light,sans-serif;background-image:initial;background-color:transparent;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span class="gmail-m_-4130659155198643623gmail-m_4536337197822658632gmail-m_900804126956621675gmail-m_4468715423587427650gmail-m_-5132861520914982400gmail-m_-7767940587665113352gmail-m_7556187913221579962gmail-m_7594654103273889618gmail-m_8116770917308700592gmail-m_-5689740228886627535gmail-m_3748690689724094617gmail-m_5850056549686459857gmail-m_-1221058679600053438gmail-m_-1971820681129565851gmail-color_15" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;background-image:initial;background-color:transparent;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial"></span></p><div style="font-size:12.8px;color:rgb(136,136,136)"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000ff"><a href="tel:682-459-1684" value="+16824591684" target="_blank">682-459-1684</a></font></div></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><br></div><div style="font-size:12.8px">Nacogdoches PowWow May 4-7, 2017</div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/167298650345870/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/event<wbr>s/167298650345870/</a></div></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Feb 10, 2017 at 12:19 PM, <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:pollinator-request@lists.sonic.net" target="_blank">pollinator-request@lists.sonic.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Send Pollinator mailing list submissions to<br>
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Today's Topics:<br>
<br>
1. Re: drones as pollinators (David Inouye)<br>
2. Re: drones as pollinators (Barbara Passero)<br>
3. The Washington Post: Trump administration puts off listing<br>
bumble bee as endangered (Kelly Rourke)<br>
4. Re: drones as pollinators (Peter Bernhardt)<br>
<br>
<br>
------------------------------<wbr>------------------------------<wbr>----------<br>
<br>
Message: 1<br>
Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2017 08:03:09 -0700<br>
From: David Inouye <<a href="mailto:inouye@umd.edu">inouye@umd.edu</a>><br>
To: Barbara Passero <<a href="mailto:bpassero@meadowmaking.org">bpassero@meadowmaking.org</a>>,<br>
<a href="mailto:pollinator@coevolution.org">pollinator@coevolution.org</a><br>
Subject: Re: [Pollinator] drones as pollinators<br>
Message-ID: <<a href="mailto:02274378-5856-18ad-4857-ea1c2ee9b7da@umd.edu">02274378-5856-18ad-4857-<wbr>ea1c2ee9b7da@umd.edu</a>><br>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed<br>
<br>
I hadn't considered a letter to the editor, but encourage you to see<br>
whether they would accept one. Another colleague pointed out that most<br>
crop and fruit tree flowers are a lot smaller than the lily flower shown<br>
in the video, and it's unlikely a drone could pollinate them.<br>
<br>
<br>
On 2/10/2017 7:38 AM, Barbara Passero wrote:<br>
> Hi David and others,<br>
><br>
> This idea is ridiculous, of course. And dangerous because the average<br>
> person reading this article would say, "Great. Now I don't have to<br>
> worry anymore about the fate of bees or eating only corn, wheat, and<br>
> rice." Do you usually send a stock letter to the editor to correct<br>
> this misleading information?<br>
><br>
> Thanks, Barbara<br>
><br>
> -----Original Message----- From: David Inouye<br>
> Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2017 1:06 PM<br>
> To: <a href="mailto:pollinator@coevolution.org">pollinator@coevolution.org</a><br>
> Subject: [Pollinator] drones as pollinators<br>
><br>
> <a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/this-drone-can-do-the-work-of-honeybees-326f6d1a40c1#.3k4pqg9r1" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://nexusmedianews.com/<wbr>this-drone-can-do-the-work-of-<wbr>honeybees-326f6d1a40c1#.<wbr>3k4pqg9r1</a><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
<br>
--<br>
Dr. David W. Inouye<br>
Professor Emeritus<br>
Department of Biology<br>
University of Maryland<br>
College Park, MD 20742-4415<br>
<a href="mailto:inouye@umd.edu">inouye@umd.edu</a><br>
<br>
Principal Investigator<br>
Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory<br>
PO Box 519<br>
Crested Butte, CO 81224<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
------------------------------<br>
<br>
Message: 2<br>
Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2017 09:38:38 -0500<br>
From: "Barbara Passero" <<a href="mailto:bpassero@meadowmaking.org">bpassero@meadowmaking.org</a>><br>
To: <<a href="mailto:pollinator@coevolution.org">pollinator@coevolution.org</a>>, "David Inouye" <<a href="mailto:inouye@umd.edu">inouye@umd.edu</a>>,<br>
<<a href="mailto:pollinator-request@lists.sonic.net">pollinator-request@lists.<wbr>sonic.net</a>><br>
Subject: Re: [Pollinator] drones as pollinators<br>
Message-ID: <<wbr>7F3D709C4C9B428DA237E0197696F3<wbr>CA@BarbaraWin7><br>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";<br>
reply-type=response<br>
<br>
Hi David and others,<br>
<br>
This idea is ridiculous, of course. And dangerous because the average person<br>
reading this article would say, "Great. Now I don't have to worry anymore<br>
about the fate of bees or eating only corn, wheat, and rice." Do you usually<br>
send a stock letter to the editor to correct this misleading information?<br>
<br>
Thanks, Barbara<br>
<br>
-----Original Message-----<br>
From: David Inouye<br>
Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2017 1:06 PM<br>
To: <a href="mailto:pollinator@coevolution.org">pollinator@coevolution.org</a><br>
Subject: [Pollinator] drones as pollinators<br>
<br>
<a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/this-drone-can-do-the-work-of-honeybees-326f6d1a40c1#.3k4pqg9r1" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://nexusmedianews.com/<wbr>this-drone-can-do-the-work-of-<wbr>honeybees-326f6d1a40c1#.<wbr>3k4pqg9r1</a><br>
<br>
<br>
--<br>
Dr. David W. Inouye<br>
Professor Emeritus<br>
Department of Biology<br>
University of Maryland<br>
College Park, MD 20742-4415<br>
<a href="mailto:inouye@umd.edu">inouye@umd.edu</a><br>
<br>
Principal Investigator<br>
Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory<br>
PO Box 519<br>
Crested Butte, CO 81224<br>
<br>
______________________________<wbr>_________________<br>
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------------------------------<br>
<br>
Message: 3<br>
Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2017 09:36:26 -0800<br>
From: Kelly Rourke <<a href="mailto:kr@pollinator.org">kr@pollinator.org</a>><br>
To: <a href="mailto:pollinator@coevolution.org">pollinator@coevolution.org</a><br>
Subject: [Pollinator] The Washington Post: Trump administration puts<br>
off listing bumble bee as endangered<br>
Message-ID: <<a href="mailto:6bd180b45d6af1c2d6cc74b0e2a774ae@mail.gmail.com">6bd180b45d6af1c2d6cc74b0e2a77<wbr>4ae@mail.gmail.com</a>><br>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"<br>
<br>
*Trump administration puts off listing bumble bee as endangered*<br>
<br>
By Juliet Eilperin February 9 at 10:19 PM<br>
<br>
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/02/09/trump-administration-puts-off-listing-bumble-bee-as-endangered/?utm_term=.98b4db29def2" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.washingtonpost.<wbr>com/news/energy-environment/<wbr>wp/2017/02/09/trump-<wbr>administration-puts-off-<wbr>listing-bumble-bee-as-<wbr>endangered/?utm_term=.<wbr>98b4db29def2</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Kelly Rourke<br>
<br>
Program Coordinator<br>
<br>
Pollinator Partnership<br>
<br>
423 Washington Street, 5th Floor<br>
<br>
San Francisco, CA 94111<br>
<br>
e: *<a href="mailto:kr@pollinator.org">kr@pollinator.org</a> <<a href="mailto:kr@pollinator.org">kr@pollinator.org</a>>*<br>
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p: <a href="tel:415.362.1137" value="+14153621137">415.362.1137</a><br>
<br>
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------------------------------<br>
<br>
Message: 4<br>
Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2017 12:18:05 -0600<br>
From: Peter Bernhardt <<a href="mailto:bernhap2@slu.edu">bernhap2@slu.edu</a>><br>
To: David Inouye <<a href="mailto:inouye@umd.edu">inouye@umd.edu</a>><br>
Cc: 00?Pollinator 00?Pollinator <<a href="mailto:pollinator@coevolution.org">pollinator@coevolution.org</a>><br>
Subject: Re: [Pollinator] drones as pollinators<br>
Message-ID:<br>
<CACxVh_yz_oDnGWLV3MSK2pTR=<a href="mailto:wageiSSDpCZDT2SzRXgssr1qw@mail.gmail.com">wag<wbr>eiSSDpCZDT2SzRXgssr1qw@mail.<wbr>gmail.com</a>><br>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"<br>
<br>
It might be best to write this letter in the vein of, "well this is cute<br>
but whacking a flower with a drone isn't enough to effect pollination at<br>
this moment in technology." Many of our crop plants still require<br>
cross-pollintation (e.g. most apples and those pretty lilies) so the drone<br>
must contact individual plants compatible with each other and have both a<br>
way of retaining viable pollen grains between flights and pin-pointing the<br>
location of the receptive tip of the pistil. Does the drone "know" when<br>
the anthers are releasing pollen and can it tell when the stigma (pistil<br>
tip) is receptive to pollen? What the video also shows is the drone<br>
bruising the flower. If pistils are injured on impact they become infected<br>
with bacteria and fungi dying before they set fruit (try a little<br>
tenderness).<br>
<br>
In fact, one of the last robot stories written by Isaac Asimov touched on<br>
this. He imagined a time in which robot drones replaced dangerous<br>
insecticides. The bird-shaped drones were programmed only to catch specific<br>
insects attacking crops, stock and people.<br>
<br>
Peter<br>
<br>
On Fri, Feb 10, 2017 at 9:03 AM, David Inouye <<a href="mailto:inouye@umd.edu">inouye@umd.edu</a>> wrote:<br>
<br>
> I hadn't considered a letter to the editor, but encourage you to see<br>
> whether they would accept one. Another colleague pointed out that most crop<br>
> and fruit tree flowers are a lot smaller than the lily flower shown in the<br>
> video, and it's unlikely a drone could pollinate them.<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> On 2/10/2017 7:38 AM, Barbara Passero wrote:<br>
><br>
>> Hi David and others,<br>
>><br>
>> This idea is ridiculous, of course. And dangerous because the average<br>
>> person reading this article would say, "Great. Now I don't have to worry<br>
>> anymore about the fate of bees or eating only corn, wheat, and rice." Do<br>
>> you usually send a stock letter to the editor to correct this misleading<br>
>> information?<br>
>><br>
>> Thanks, Barbara<br>
>><br>
>> -----Original Message----- From: David Inouye<br>
>> Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2017 1:06 PM<br>
>> To: <a href="mailto:pollinator@coevolution.org">pollinator@coevolution.org</a><br>
>> Subject: [Pollinator] drones as pollinators<br>
>><br>
>> <a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/this-drone-can-do-the-work-of-hon" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://nexusmedianews.com/<wbr>this-drone-can-do-the-work-of-<wbr>hon</a><br>
>> eybees-326f6d1a40c1#.3k4pqg9r1<br>
>><br>
>><br>
>><br>
> --<br>
> Dr. David W. Inouye<br>
> Professor Emeritus<br>
> Department of Biology<br>
> University of Maryland<br>
> College Park, MD 20742-4415<br>
> <a href="mailto:inouye@umd.edu">inouye@umd.edu</a><br>
><br>
> Principal Investigator<br>
> Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory<br>
> PO Box 519<br>
> Crested Butte, CO 81224<br>
><br>
> ______________________________<wbr>_________________<br>
> Pollinator mailing list<br>
> <a href="mailto:Pollinator@lists.sonic.net">Pollinator@lists.sonic.net</a><br>
> <a href="https://lists.sonic.net/mailman/listinfo/pollinator" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://lists.sonic.net/<wbr>mailman/listinfo/pollinator</a><br>
><br>
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End of Pollinator Digest, Vol 1822, Issue 1<br>
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