Plants
- Environment
Tropics may now emit more carbon dioxide than they absorb
Analyses of satellite images suggest that degraded forests now release more carbon than they store.
- Climate
Thawing mosses tell a climate change tale
Plants long entombed beneath Canadian ice are now emerging. They’re telling a story of warming unprecedented in the history of human civilization.
- Plants
Earthworm invaders may be stressing out some maples
Worms are great for soil when ecosystems have evolved with them. But in earthworm-free places, like parts of the U.S. Upper Midwest, they can cause problems for plants and animals.
- Plants
Cool Job: Rethinking how plants hunt for water
Studies probing the very beginnings of root development may have important implications for growing food in a world where the climate is changing.
By Susan Milius - Chemistry
Why onions make us cry
Researchers add another piece to the molecular puzzle biochemists have tried to solve for decades — why onions can make our eyes tear up.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Capsaicin
This chemical is produced by pepper plants and gives them their hot flavor.
- Agriculture
Scientists Say: Domestication
Domestication is the process of deliberately taking a wild organism — a plant or animal for instance — and making it a part of our daily lives.
- Plants
Scientists Say: Guttation
When water vapor can’t escape a plant, it might force its way out through a process called guttation.
- Plants
Scientists Say: Stomata
Plants have pores they open and close to let oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapor in and out. These pores are called stomata.
- Ecosystems
America’s duck lands: These ‘potholes’ are under threat
North America’s prairies are in trouble. Scientists race against the clock for clues about how to save the plants — and animals — that call it home.
- Environment
Cleaning up water that bees like to drink
Plant roots suck up pesticides used on soils, then release them into water that can seep from their leaves. This is a sweetened water that bees love to sip. A teen figured out how to remove most of the pesticide with bits of charcoal.
- Tech
Wired and weird: Meet the cyborg plants
By mixing electronics with greenery, engineers have made plants that conduct electricity, detect bombs and send email.