Plants

  1. 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.

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  2. 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.

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  3. 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.

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  4. 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.

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  5. 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.

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  6. Chemistry

    Scientists Say: Capsaicin

    This chemical is produced by pepper plants and gives them their hot flavor.

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  7. 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.

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  8. Plants

    Scientists Say: Guttation

    When water vapor can’t escape a plant, it might force its way out through a process called guttation.

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  9. 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.

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  10. 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.

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  11. 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.

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  12. 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.

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