Celebrating Plants and People
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Botanical Innovations. How Did Conifer Seeds Come To Fly Like Helicopters?
Conifers’ helicoptering seeds are result of long evolutionary experiment. Early trees experimented with various winged-seed designs before settling on just one
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The Botanical Knowledge Of Ancient Egyptians
Even today, large portions of herbal remedies used as ‘alternative’ medicines feature plants used for similar purposes as those used by the ancient Egyptians.
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Night Lighting Of Habitats Damages Plant Communities. Until Now.
Natural plant habitats, particularly those found in places that are normally dark at night, such as caves and forests, are being altered by artificial lighting because the increased illumination helps invasive species to thrive. Light at night also prevents flowers from blooming; decreasing crop yields and spoiling natural beauty spots.
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How One Forest Fire Could Forever Change Life In An Entire Region
In the wake of the fire that destroyed more than 34,000 hectares of forests, some of them ancient, in Argentina’s southern Patagonia region, the authorities will have to put out flames that are no less serious: the new socio-environmental catastrophe that will emerge from the ashes.
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The Bus Shelter That Draws Electricity From Plants
The hub has specially adapted vertical green walls that harvest electrons naturally produced as a by-product of photosynthesis and metabolic activity, and convert them into electrical current.
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Can Conservation Reinvent Itself To Save Hawaii’s Doomed Lowland Rain Forests ?
Our project is motivated by our past work in lowland Hawaiian rainforests, which are in need of restoration, as they experience low amounts of native species regeneration and exist only in remnant patches filled with highly invasive plant species. It’s a case of ‘dead men standing’: when the existing adults die, this forest will become wholly made up of exotic and invasive species.
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Oil Palm Waste Can Become Biofuel And Plastics
Leftover plant matter from the production of palm oil could provide a generous source for making biofuels and environmentally friendly plastics. Researchers have developed a fungal culture for use in a cheap and efficient method to transform the waste oil palm material into useful products.
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The Pollinators Are Leaving The Building. Bad News From The Front Lines
According to a new study by IUCN and partners, the conservation status of pollinating bird and mammal species is deteriorating, with more species moving towards extinction than away from it.
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The Forests Of The US Southwest Reveal An Unfolding Future And It Isn’t Pretty
The more forests die, the less carbon they take out of the air, the warmer it gets, the more forests die, It’s a thermostat gone bad.
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Save The Ape Or Lose The Forest
Bonobos have a pretty amazing role in the forest. They eat for about 3.5 hours every day and travel a mean of 1.2 kilometers from meal sites before defecating and depositing the seeds that have passed through their systems. And we’re not talking about a small number of seeds: Previous research has estimated that an astonishing 11.6 million seeds travel through an average bonobo’s guts during its lifetime.