Plants
- Astronomy
Readers have questions about Ultima Thule, thirsty plants and vitamin D
Readers had comments and questions about Ultima Thule, photosynthesis and more.
- Plants
Shutdown aside, Joshua trees live an odd life
Growing only in the U.S. Southwest, wild Joshua trees evolved a rare, fussy pollination scheme.
- Plants
How light-farming chloroplasts morph into defensive warriors
Researchers now know which protein triggers light-harvesting plant chloroplasts to turn into cell defenders when a pathogen attacks.
- Agriculture
A new way to genetically tweak photosynthesis boosts plant growth
A new chemical road map for a process called photorespiration in plant cells could reduce energy waste to increase plant productivity.
- Paleontology
More plants survived the world’s greatest mass extinction than thought
Fossil plants from Jordan reveal more plant lineages that made it through the Great Dying roughly 252 million years ago.
- Archaeology
Corn domestication took some unexpected twists and turns
A DNA study challenges the idea people fully tamed maize in Mexico before the plant spread.
- Plants
Hybrid rice engineered with CRISPR can clone its seeds
New research has created self-cloning hybrid rice, raising hopes of higher food production.
- Plants
Cactus spine shapes determine how they stab victims
The shapes of cactus spines influence how they poke passersby.
- Ecosystems
How researchers flinging salmon inadvertently spurred tree growth
Scientists studying salmon in Alaska flung dead fish into the forest. After 20 years, the nutrients from those carcasses sped up tree growth.
- Archaeology
Ancient South Americans tasted chocolate 1,500 years before anyone else
Artifacts with traces of cacao push back the known date for when the plant was first domesticated by 1,500 years.
- Plants
Liverwort plants contain a painkiller similar to the one in marijuana
Cannabinoids found in liverwort plants could spell relief for those suffering from chronic pain.
- Agriculture
Plants engineered to always be on alert don’t grow well
Scientists bred a type of weed to lack proteins that help stem the production of bitter chemicals used to ward off insect attacks.
