Via Yahoo! News: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070710/...eashore_mallow.

They compared possible uses of this plant to the old saying about the usefulness of the pig: you use everything but the squeal.

I agree that it is nominally a good idea to be able to keep salt marshes (which perform several valuable ecological functions) as they are and still get substantial economic value from them. However, the thought of replacing the wide variety of plant species in marshes with a monoculture of mallow perturbs me, as we don't know what the long-term ecological impact of that would be. Granted, it would probably be less than draining the marsh and planting corn for fuel, which would disrupt what is essentially a nursery for several marine species and would require the application of large amounts of fertilizer and pesticides. However, I'm unsure whether use of mallow oil would result in a net reduction of CO2 emissions. I would be a lot more enthusiatic about this idea if I knew that a range of options for CO2-reduction were being explored in a systematic and expeditious manner, with consideration of possible side-effects of the given method on the environment.

Instead, I fear that it will turn out to be yet another ill-thought out quick fix.

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The dose makes the poison--Paracelsus (1493-1541) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus

I don't know. That's why I'm asking--Noclevername

Intelligence may not be clearly defined, but you know stupid when you see it--Noclevername

Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge--Carl Sagan (1934-1996)

Seashore mallows are OK, but marshmallows taste better.

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Well, seashore mallows would be awfully salty in one's hot chocolate.

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The dose makes the poison--Paracelsus (1493-1541) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus

I don't know. That's why I'm asking--Noclevername

Intelligence may not be clearly defined, but you know stupid when you see it--Noclevername

Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge--Carl Sagan (1934-1996)

Unfortunately, there's no idea so good that it can't be applied really, really stupidly.

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"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
"The Mayan symbol for "book" looks a lot like a triple hamburger, but I've never seen them claiming it as proof the Mayans had Big Macs." - KaiYeves
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

True, but I'd like to see a range of ideas applied, instead of relying on just one.

__________________
The dose makes the poison--Paracelsus (1493-1541) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus

I don't know. That's why I'm asking--Noclevername

Intelligence may not be clearly defined, but you know stupid when you see it--Noclevername

Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge--Carl Sagan (1934-1996)

What, you mean you don't believe that a single, simplistic solution is a "magic bullet"?

__________________
"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
"The Mayan symbol for "book" looks a lot like a triple hamburger, but I've never seen them claiming it as proof the Mayans had Big Macs." - KaiYeves
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

Salt marsh mallows?

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PW -- Plant Whisperer

Mmmmmm...salty donut...

__________________
The dose makes the poison--Paracelsus (1493-1541) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus

I don't know. That's why I'm asking--Noclevername

Intelligence may not be clearly defined, but you know stupid when you see it--Noclevername

Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge--Carl Sagan (1934-1996)