Land Plants Do Affect the Climate About 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by oceans, and marine phytoplankton likely play a significant role in cloud formation via ice nucleation (and, thus, affect the weather and climate). For example, please see Ref. 1 below. But a paper published in 2015 …
Tearing Down The Paywalls? Over the years scribbling this blog, I’ve often been frustrated when trying to provide readers with links to material I’ve referenced. This is because, in many cases, the scientific information in question has been published in a journal article that is blocked by a paywall. But …
Are Plants Smarter Than Smartphones? We’re back for Round 2 of the iPhone vs. plant rematch: Which is more intelligent, an iPhone 6 or a plant? If you missed Rematch, Round 1, here it is. (I think the iPhone 6 clearly took the first round.) By the way, this contest …
Plants – Food Versus Fuel A recently published report has pounded another nail in the biofuels coffin. This report, published by the World Resources Institute provides evidence that governments have made a mistake by supporting the large-scale conversion of plants into fuel. “Turning plant matter into liquid fuel or electricity …
Surprises: From Genes To Xmas Trees The month of December 2014 featured some amazing discoveries in plant-related science. From a new way to look at plant genomes and plant cells to “shape-shifting” plants to surprising info regarding organic farms and, yes, even Christmas trees. Prepare to be (at least mildly) …
From Plants In Space To Secret Worlds Is this penultimate sampling of the plant-related news from 2014 science or science fiction? Well, it’s definitely science. Why not take a taste and see for yourself. The force of gravity has a profound effect on the growth and development of plants. But …
From Seaweed to “Orange” Corn The menu for our tenth course is probably the most varied so far. Will we be eating seaweed in the future? And maybe even orange corn? In between these two plant news items from October 2014, we also sample mushooms, tomatoes and hot chili peppers, …
Menu #9: From Caffeine To An Asteroid (Plus “Dessert”) The plant news “smorgasbord” of September 2014 provided quite a variety “dishes”. It was difficult to choose only five, but I did manage to include a video “dessert”. Bon appétit! “Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in the world.” …
From Seed Saving To “Editing” Fruit Plant-related news did not take a vacation in August 2014. There were certainly plenty of stories to choose from for our eighth nibble at last year’s “leftovers”. So tuck in for some toothsome treats. Most seed-preservation endeavors have followed pretty much a “one-size-fits-all” approach …
From Plant Vibrations To Plant Detox Much of the plant news in July 2014 seemed to come in pairs. There were a pair of stories involving “vibrations”, a pair about plant development in 3D, and a pair about plants “cleaning” the environment. So, of course, the tasty news tidbits for …