Leaf Surfaces = Microbial Habitats Imagine all the leaves of all the plants currently living on planet Earth. Now, add up all the surface areas of all of those leaves. And your answer is?… No idea?…. Luckily, some microbiologists have made an estimate, and it’s an astounding number. According to…
Does the Moon’s Gravity Affect Trees? To me this sounds like a silly question. Why? Because I’d no more expect the moon’s gravity to affect trees than it affects the water in a pond or swimming pool. If the moon doesn’t elicit tidal effects in such small bodies of water,…
The Biology of Moonlight? The moon may have effects on animal behavior (see here for example), but does it affect plants? Last time I introduced the scientific literature on the subject by referring to a 1946 paper by Beeson (see ref. 1 below) published in the journal Nature. In this…
Walking on the Moon (Updated) On July 20, 1969 Apollo 11 crew members Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to walk on the moon. Since the 50th anniversary of this first moon landing will occur in 2019 (get your commemorative T-Shirt here), I think it would be…
Toxic? Yes!….. But wicked? Wicked (wik’id) adj. [Middle English wikke, evil, akin to Old English wicce, witch] “1. morally bad or wrong; acting or done with evil intent; depraved; iniquitous.” – Webster’s New World Dictionary A wonderful new book Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother and Other Botanical…
No Controversy Here Despite the denials of global warming caused by increased atmospheric CO2 from the scientifically ignorant or from the oil/coal corporations (or from politicians bought or rented by these corporations), there is one thing they can not deny. The level of atmospheric CO2 on Earth has been steadily…
Send In The Clones Few plants generate such annoyance among suburban homeowners with immaculate lawnscapes as the common dandelion (in North America, most likely Taraxacum officinale). Despite efforts to eradicate them using chemical warfare (see here for info on such herbicides), the dandelions exhibit a remarkable ability to proliferate. And…
Roundup® Kills All Plants (Mostly) The herbicide that most Americans are likely familiar with is Roundup®. Unlike the auxin-based herbicides I discussed in the previous post, Roundup® is not a selective herbicide. That is, it usually kills all green plants (except if the plant is Roundup Ready® or if the…
What Do Suburban Lawns and the Vietnam War Have in Common? Answer: The herbicide 2,4-D. You may be familiar with this herbicide as an active ingredient in “Weed ‘n Feed®”, “Weed B Gon MAX®”, Turf Builder® With Weed Control”, etc.. During the Vietnam War, it was an active ingredient in…
Articles about photosynthesis in the popular press or online often make me cringe. Why? Because sometimes they lead people to think that the oxygen (O2) produced by photosynthesis is derived from carbon dioxide (CO2). Some even further compound their mistake by stating that plants actually convert CO2 into O2 at…