Plants
- 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.
- Animals
Under blanket of ice, lakes teem with life
Life under frozen lakes is vibrant, complex and surprisingly active, new research finds. In fact, some plants and animals can only live under the ice. But with climate change, will that continue?
- Plants
Warm petals may attract chilly bees
Dark-purple violet petals are warmer than a light-purple variant. And and that warmth might explain their attraction to potentially chilly bees.
- Agriculture
Bananas under attack: Understanding their foes
Fungal blights threaten the world’s most popular fruit. But genetic studies hint at new ways to combat some of these diseases.
- Ecosystems
Earthworms: Can these gardeners’ friends actually become foes?
Asian jumping worms can strip leaf litter from floor of U.S. forests, new data show. Many native plants need that leaf litter for their seeds to germinate.
- Plants
Scientists Say: Bromeliad
Bromeliads are plants with long spiky leaves. They are common houseplants, and we even see one in the grocery store — the pineapple.
- Plants
Houseplants suck up air pollutants that can sicken people
Certain indoor air pollutants can sicken people. But some houseplants can remove those chemicals from a room’s air, new data show.
- Plants
Scientists Say: Chlorophyll
Plants can make energy out of sunlight, all thanks to a pigment called chlorophyll.
- Agriculture
Sneaky! Virus sickens plants, but helps them multiply
The cucumber mosaic virus helps tomato plants lure pollinators. When the plants multiply, the virus now gets new hosts.
- Plants
Young sunflowers keep time
The plants don’t just use light to follow the sun. An internal clock helps their stems bend as the sun moves across the sky.
