Plants

  1. 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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  2. Chemistry

    Scientists Say: Capsaicin

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

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  3. 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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  4. 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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  5. 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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  6. 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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  7. 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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  8. 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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  9. 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?

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  10. 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.

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  11. 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.

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  12. 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.

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