Celebrating Plants and People
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Which Trees On Your Lot Affect Home Sales
Believe it or not, the types of trees in your yard can impact your ability to sell your home.
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Do More Street Trees Equal Fewer Prescriptions For Anti-Depressants?
Doctors prescribe fewer antidepressants in urban areas with more trees on the street, according to recent UK research. The study examined the link between mental health and wellbeing and the presence of trees in London neighbourhoods. Its findings support the idea that maintaining a link to nature, even in an urban area, may help provide a healthy living environment.
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Your Polyurethane Could Soon Come From Plant Oils
Researchers have developed a new way to use plant oils like olive and linseed oil to create polyurethane, a plastic material used in everything from foam insulation panels to tires, hoses and sealants.
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Ancient Moss Found Frozen In Antarctic Permafrost Gets New Lease On Life
The researchers extracted the frozen moss cores and then carefully incubated portions, providing optimal light and temperature. The moss began to grow a few weeks later. Carbon dating puts the moss at 1530 years old, and the team estimates that the plants were a few decades old when the permafrost set in.
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A Botany Primer For Citizen Scientists
This national effort to collect standardized ground observations of the phenological phases—or observable life cycle stages—of species by researchers, natural resources managers, students and volunteers, supports a wide range of scientific applications and management decisions routinely made by citizens and professionals. High quality data is vital to this effort and this guide is meant to acclimate participants to information referenced within the Nature’s Notebook program
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The Urban Forest And Income Inequality: The Haves Have
Wealthier neighborhoods are more likely to have more and denser trees.
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Ecologists Create Flowers With 3D Printing To Study Moth Behavior
3D printing is a unique opportunity to explore the interactions between floral form and pollinator performance. Our ability to manipulate mathematically-specified flower morphology means that we can investigate the role of minute but potentially important differences in floral form on pollinator foraging performance.
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Replanting The Desert Requires Aspirin (Research Proves it!)
Using plant ecophysiological techniques, researchers have shown aspirin protects the photosynthesis system—allowing for growth under severe water stress.
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The Wonder That Is Pitcher Plants
Nepenthes have turned the tables of the conventional plant-animal relationship, evolving to become a skilled hunter of the tropical rainforest. In doing so, they illustrate how fascinating, intelligent and complex plant life can be.
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Flower Inspires Scientists To Create New Underwater Lens
Researchers in China have taken inspiration from fish scales and skeleton flowers to make a transparent underwater surface that stays clean by repelling oil.