AURA

Forgive me for barging into Sine’s schtick about space, but since Kitt Peak is in the middle of the their reservation, what better time to tell you about some of the plants they use. Two important ones are

Per Wikipedia as downloaded 3/17/2019:

Jojoba is a shrub native to the American southwest. "The mature seed is a hard oval that is dark brown and contains an oil (liquid wax)…. Jojoba foliage provides year-round food for many animals, including deer, javelina, bighorn sheep, and livestock. Its nuts are eaten by squirrels, rabbits, other rodents, and larger birds.

"The O'odham people of the Sonoran Desert treated burns with an antioxidant salve made from a paste of the jojoba nut. Native Americans also used the salve to soften and preserve animal hides. Pregnant women ate jojoba seeds, believing they assisted during childbirth. …derivative jojoba esters [are]more similar to whale oil than to traditional vegetable oils. It has been discussed as a possible biodiesel.^[7][8][9] [That ought to turn on the greasers in our organization, though unfortunately it apparently] cannot be cultivated on a scale to compete with traditional fossil fuels, and its use is relegated to personal care products. [But] it’s utility has led to [some] commercial jojoba plantings. "

Per Wikipedia as downloaded 3/17/2019:

Guayule is a flowering shrub native to the American southwest and northern Mexico. In times past the latex it produces has served as a backup to rubber, and “In October 2015, the Bridgestone Corporation announced the creation of the first tires made entirely of guayule rubber, having built an experimental farm and biorubber research center in Mesa, Arizona …. The guayule [they use] is grown in Mesa and Eloy, Arizona.

"With the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, the surge in rubber glove usage revealed how many people were allergic to latex (about 10% of health care workers, according to OSHA), and thereby created a niche market for guayule … due to its hypoallergenic properties.

"… Lester R. Brown of the Earth Policy Institute, states that [food based] biofuels pit the 800 million people with cars against the 800 million people with hunger problems, meaning that biofuels derived from food crops (like maize) raise world food prices."

I know I’m sounding like an economist like Coronado when I say such things, but I’m trying to be real about this. So, anyway:

"Guayule can be an economically viable biofuel crop that does not increase the world's hunger problem."

Guayule has another benefit over food crops as biofuel - it can be grown in areas where food crops would fail."

By the way, the Aztecs were playing ball thanks to guayule before Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Coronado, please take note of this, huh?