"You may be on to something, genuinely," Helen said. "There may be something different at the microscopic level that can't be seen with the naked eye and it's worth knowing. Now, I don't know the purpose of such a thing aside from annoying us all but it might be useful to know if the crops have been affected somehow."

She hoped that the idea of a project would distract him somewhat and pull him from his cross mood. If not, it was still worth knowing.