Links July,2

Why Indian farmers lust after genetically modified eggplant:
"I have no idea how representative that last farmer's attitudes are of Indian eggplant farmers in general. But the basic calculus seems pretty clear. If Indian farmers can simultaneously cut their costs by cutting their pesticide expenses and boost yields by fending off the fruit and shoot borer, they will pay a premium price for genetically modified eggplant seeds. In a world where all kinds of agricultural inputs are drastically rising in price, that same calculus will likely play out elsewhere, with other farmers and other crops."
Strong comments and a related news An impossible coexistence: Transgenic and organic agriculture from Spain.
Energy Transitions Past and Future
from 'The Oil Drum':
"The debate about "peak oil" aside, there are relatively abundant remaining supplies of fossil fuels. Their quality is declining, but not yet to the extent that increasing scarcity will help trigger a major energy transition like wood scarcity did in the 19th century. The costs of wind, solar and biomass have declined due to steady technical advances, but in key areas of energy quality—density, net energy, intermittancy, flexibility, and so on—they remain inferior to conventional fuels. Thus, alternative energy sources are not likely to supplant fossil fuels in the short term without substantial and concerted policy intervention. The need to restrain carbon emissions may provide the political and social pressure to accelerate the transition to wind, biomass and solar, as this is one area where they clearly trump fossil fuels. Electricity from wind and solar sources may face competition from nuclear power, the sole established low-carbon power source with significant potential for expansion. If concerns about climate change drive a transition to renewable sources, it will be the first time in human history that energetic imperatives, especially the the economic advantages of higher-quality fuels, were not the principal impetus."

Gulzar Natarajan on Survey on corruption in India :
"It is ironical that the departments administered directly by the three All India Services officers - IAS, IPS and IFS (land records, police, and forest) are the three most corrupt departments!"
Rahul Siddharthan on Pen Pricks. This one was quickly found to be be fake. But there are others which seem to go on like the about a Forbes news item on Samskrit being the best language for computers. Others, after the usual cycle of few days are not pursued.
Several interesting pieces in the Seed magazine, in particular, Cultural Evolution and Tom Wolfe + Michael Gazzaniga.