Plants
- Life
Nanoscale glitches let flowers make a blue blur that bees can see
Bees learn about colorful floral rings faster when nanoscale arrays aren’t quite perfect.
- Climate
During El Niño, the tropics emit more carbon dioxide
El Niño increases carbon emissions from the tropics — mimicking future climate change.
- Plants
José Dinneny rethinks how plants hunt for water
Plant biologist José Dinneny probes the very beginnings of root development, which may have important implications for growing food in a changing climate.
- Animals
Pollen hitches a ride on bees in all the right spots
Flower reproduction depends on the pollen that collects in hard-to-reach spots on bees, a new study shows.
- Animals
Invasive earthworms may be taking a toll on sugar maples
Sugar maple trees in the Upper Great Lakes region are more likely to have dying branches when there are signs of an earthworm invasion, a new study finds.
- Life
Light pollution can foil plant-insect hookups, and not just at night
Upsetting nocturnal pollinators has daylight after-effects for Swiss meadow flowers.
- Plants
A new portrait of the world’s first flower is unveiled
A reconstruction of the first flowers suggests the ancient blooms were bisexual.
- Plants
Borrowed genes give mums the blues
Scientists have genetically modified chrysanthemums to be “true blue” for the first time.
- Tech
This robot grows like a plant
A new soft robot navigates its environment by growing in a manner inspired by plants.
- Genetics
How a crop-destroying fungus mutated to infect wheat
Study details how wheat got a new pathogen called blast fungus.
- Plants
Hermaphrodite wildflower has its own battle of the sexes
A new example of sexual conflict shows up in a plant with a troublesome pollinator.
- Plants
How to eavesdrop on kelp
Sounds reverberating through a kelp bed can be linked to environmental factors, suggesting a low-key way to monitor undersea communities.
