What is VPD?

Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD) is the difference, or deficit, between the vapor pressure of water in the air versus vapor pressure of water in the leaf of a plant. Thus, VPD is a means of measuring potential water stress within a plant. It is a more accurate measurement than relative humidity (RH) because it accounts for the relationship of temperature and humidity. RH and VPD are typically inversely related, such that a low RH will mean a high VPD. That high VPD value means that a plant will feel a strong pressure to transpire significantly more water.

A digital media company that provides marketing for the marijuana industry has created an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot modeled after US Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump.

There are many ways to follow that sentence, but, really, the only thing that makes sense is a question.

"Why?"

High Times for The Donald

The short answer: Bang Digital Media, a subsidiary of Bang Holdings Corp., wants a piece of the AI Facebook bot pie. And to establish proof of concept, Bang’s team developed a Trump-obsessed chatbot called “The Donald.” 

CS Compliance Systems ran into trouble this month over its ability to accept credits, even though the Denver-based consulting and technology firm doesn’t sell marijuana.

Merely working with cannabis dispensaries was enough for CS Compliance Systems to have its credit card processing privileges revoked by the merchant service provider it’s working with, operations manager Ryan Lewis said.

“It’s huge bump in the road” for growing the small company, Lewis said. 

This situation is also a reminder of the strange financial spot the marijuana industry is currently in with banks and other companies that are hesitant to work with dispensaries and other marijuana-related businesses without a green light from the federal government.

There is certainly no wrong way to cultivate cannabis, as anyone growing cannabis plants in their basement can attest. But, there’s definitely a right way to cost-effectively grow high-quality plants. Expert cultivators optimize key performance indicators like pounds per light, grams per watt, or grams per square foot of flower canopy, since utilities and labor tend to be the most expensive component of any indoor grow operation.

Science laboratories that test marijuana in Oregon say the state's recreational cannabis supply undergoes more testing, and is safer than any food product consumers buy.

A handful of labs just got their state accredited license this October.

Oregon has set the strictest standards in the industry.

"Residual solvents, potency, terpenes and pesticides over there," Molly Lyons points out all the machines she uses to test hundreds of marijuana samples every day.

Her workplace, GreenHaus Analytical Labs in Southeast Portland, is among the first accredited to do it. They test several dozen samples from each marijuana harvest, and the oil and concentrates that it can be made into, for pesticides, mold and potency.

A model of the CB1 receptor shows the structure of the receptor in green, along with the stabilizing molecule AM6538 in the central binding pocket. The researchers used this model to examine how different cannabinoid molecules bind to and activate the receptor.

When someone smokes cannabis, molecules including Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - marijuana's main psychoactive ingredient - bind to a receptor in their brain.

It is the interaction between the drug and this receptor, called CB1, that makes people feel high after smoking marijuana. 

Now researchers have published the clearest picture yet of this receptor and it could help lead the way for the development of safe cannabis-based medicines.

As David Chao walks into the glass conference room, there’s nothing unusual about him as an investor. He’s tall, middle-aged with dark hair and clutching the expected techie accessory: a smartphone.

But there’s one unusual detail about Chao: He’s a medical marijuana user.

Chao first gave cannabis a try a couple of years ago, after a cycle of painful stomach and lung problems he couldn’t relieve through traditional medicine. One day, as they sat around playing video games, pal Blake Krikorian, a co-founder of Sling Media who recently died of a heart attack, suggested Chao look into alternative treatments such as medical marijuana.

Not too long ago, if you wanted to ingest cannabis, you were going to either smoke it or eat it using some traditional method. Now, we’ve got vaporizers, tinctures, wax, and so on. Innovative marijuana companies are constantly coming up with new and interesting ways to medicate with the plant. One of the most interesting ways to ingest cannabis that I’ve ever seen has got to be the new “Vapen Clear” inhaler from the Arizona company Vapen. Up until now, Vapen has mostly sold tech products used for the delivery of cannabis. The Vapen Clear appears to be the first of its kind and is unlike anything we’ve seen.

Virtual reality technology is here and quickly improving. With prices as low as $15 for Google Cardboard, entry-level VR options are enabling people to use the technology in fascinating ways. Whether it’s a low-cost pair or a more expensive HTC VIVE system, here are some cool ways the cannabis community is merging with virtual reality technology. 

The receptor in the brain involved in the "high" people feel after smoking marijuana is revealed in a new, detailed, 3D image today, according to a new study. This provides scientists with their clearest picture yet of this receptor, the study said.

The new image shows how molecules such as THC, marijuana's main psychoactive ingredient, bind to this receptor, which is located in the surface of numerous nerve cells, the researchers found.