Plants

  1. Plants

    Plant chemical weaponry may offer ammunition for pesticides

    Chemicals produced by two plant species disrupt insect hormone pathways and could be developed in to efficient, safe pesticides.

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  2. Plants

    Tricky pitcher plants lure ants into a false sense of security

    Carnivorous pitcher plants exploit social lives of ants as scouts escape and inadvertently lead nest mates to death trap.

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  3. Genetics

    The year in genomes

    From the tiny Antarctic midge to the towering loblolly pine, scientists this year cracked open a variety of genetic instruction manuals to learn about some of Earth’s most diverse inhabitants.

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  4. Genetics

    Orchid genome may save highly endangered species

    The sequenced genome of the orchid Phalaenopsis equestris offers some hints about a different form of photosynthesis and how the flowers of the plant got their specialized shape.

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  5. Animals

    Fully formed froglets emerge from dry bamboo nurseries

    In remote India, a rare frog mates and lays eggs inside bamboo stalks. The eggs hatch into froglets, forgoing the tadpole stage.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Cocoa antioxidants boost the aging brain

    High doses of cocoa flavanols can improve some types of brain function in older individuals, a new study shows.

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  7. Plants

    How female ferns make younger neighbors male

    Precocious female ferns release a partly formed sexual-identity hormone, and nearby laggards finish it and go masculine.

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  8. Environment

    Engineered plants demolish toxic waste

    With help from bacteria, plants could one day clean up polluted sites.

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  9. Plants

    Climbing high to save a threatened West Coast plant

    A group of scientists hopes to save a cliff-hugging plant threatened by invasive grasses, drought and fire in California’s Santa Monica Mountains.

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  10. Ecosystems

    ‘Where Do Camels Belong?’ explores invasive species

    Ecologist Ken Thompson takes a closer look at the impacts (or lack thereof) of invasive species.

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  11. Plants

    Borrowed genes raise hopes for fixing “slow and confused” plant enzyme

    Inserting some bacterial Rubisco chemistry into a plant might one day boost photosynthesis and help raise crop yields.

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  12. Plants

    Helping trees adapt to climate change possible but a huge task

    A new study finds that it would be possible to assist the migration of trees and help them adapt to climate change, but the scale of such a project would be massive.

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