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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Cool I have envisioned something like this for some time now, at least since becoming part owner of a farm. It seems to me like this could be programmed to recognize harmful bugs and differentiate from harmless or beneficial bugs. Then zap the bad guys with a laser or something. What I don’t know, but Keith does, is if an effective laser could be run off of batteries, rather than internal combustion. Reasoning: neither the weed recognition, nor the bug recognition, nor the laser control system would work right with reciprocating machinery aboard, I would think.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>spike<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p style='line-height:15.0pt;background:white'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#6D6E71'>If food was a superhero (called, I don’t know…Captain Nutrient), one of its most dangerous archenemies would be The Vile Weed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:15.0pt;background:white'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#6D6E71'>Against this invasive enemy, we have but one weapon — herbicides. According to <a href="http://www.cbs19.tv/story/19338558/global-crop-protection-chemicals-industry-is-expected-to-reach-usd-713-billion-in-2018-transparency-market-research?clienttype=printable">a recent report from Transparency Market Research</a>, the global herbicide market was estimated to be about $20 billion in 2011 and expected to grow around 6 percent over the next six years. But spraying chemicals seems like a sloppy, old school method for dealing with weeds, especially when they inevitably develop chemical resistance in their drive for self-preservation. Perhaps what crops need to be free of this nemesis is a humble sidekick, one that can tip the balance in the war playing out amongst rows of tiny trenches splayed across farmer’s fields everywhere.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:15.0pt;background:white'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#6D6E71'>Today, that sidekick has arrived…at least on battlefields growing lettuce, hence its nickname: “Lettuce Bot.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://singularityhub.com/2012/09/19/lettuce-bot-rolls-through-crops-terminates-weeds-it-visually-identifies/?utm_source=The+Harvest+Is+Bountiful&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=23b96ebc53-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN">http://singularityhub.com/2012/09/19/lettuce-bot-rolls-through-crops-terminates-weeds-it-visually-identifies/?utm_source=The+Harvest+Is+Bountiful&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=23b96ebc53-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>