Plants
- Life
In blazing heat, some plants open leaf pores — and risk death
When heat waves and droughts collide, water is precious. Some thirsty plants try to cool off by opening tiny pores — only to lose water even faster.
- Animals
Explainer: What is an invasive species?
These foreign organisms hitchhike, spread widely and stir up trouble in native ecosystems.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Adaptation
This word refers to a feature of a living thing that helps it better survive in its environment — or the process of that feature evolving in a population.
- Climate
Secret forest fungi partner with plants — and help the climate
Forest fungi are far more than mere mushrooms. They explore. They move nutrients and messages between plants. They can even help fight climate change.
- Archaeology
Vikings were in North America 1,000 years ago
Wooden objects provide the most precise dating yet for a Viking settlement on the coast of Newfoundland in Canada.
- Plants
Let’s learn about meat-eating plants
Carnivorous plants use a variety of strategies to lure in and capture their prey, from sticky traps to jawlike leaves.
- Plants
Scientists Say: Phloem
Phloem is tissue that delivers food, made in leaves during photosynthesis, to the rest of a plant.
- Animals
Racism lurks in many plant and animal names. That’s now changing
Racist legacies linger in everyday lingo for birds, plants and other organisms. Some scientists now see the chance to change that.
- Animals
What biologists call a species is becoming more than just a name
The tree of life — evolution — has been reshaping how scientists name and classify organisms. Some want naming to reflect evolutionary groups even more.
- Life
Well-known wildflower turns out to be a secret meat-eater
Look closely at Triantha occidentalis, and you’ll see gluey hairs — and a trail of insect corpses on its stem.
- Genetics
How Romanesco cauliflower grows spiraling fractal cones
By tweaking just three genes in a common lab plant, scientists have mimicked one of nature’s most impressive mathematical patterns.
- Plants
These ferns may be first plants known to work together as ants do
Staghorn ferns grow in massive colonies where individual plants contribute different jobs. This may make them “eusocial,” like ants or termites.
