Blogger archive postings don't seem to be working quite right, so just scroll down to the bit entitled "Unequivocal Good News" and read. The short summary is that researchers at Cornell have engineered a new strain of rice that is significantly more drought resistant, can grow in salt water, and can live in weather that's 10 degrees cooler. What's more, they didn't patent it but have released it into the public domain. Hooray for Cornell!