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Celebrating Plants and People

  • Are Plants Watching Us? The Case For Plants Having Vision

    These cyanobacteria use the entire cell body as a lens to focus an image of the light source at the cell membrane, as in the retina of an animal eye, Although researchers are not sure what the purpose of this mechanism is, its existence suggests that a similar one could have evolved in higher plants. “If something like this is already present at the lower level of evolution, it is most likely kept,” (Click on title for full story.)

  • From Military Training Bullets To Ecological Regeneration: Bullets With Seeds

    As the DoD phrases it, in a new call-for-proposals, although “current training rounds require hundreds of years or more to biodegrade,” they are simply “left on the ground surface or several feet underground at the proving ground or tactical range” after use. Worse, “some of these rounds might have the potential [to] corrode and pollute the soil and nearby water.” The solution? From bullets to seeds. Turn those spent munitions into gardens-to-come (click on title for full story).

  • Growing Furniture: Using Ancient Techniques For New Designs

    It’s a technique he and his team have been developing for 10 years, an arduous process that requires patience as the trees mature. Their open-air factory, located in the UK, is a four-acre field with 3,000 trees planted. They currently have 500 pieces in production, which include chairs, lamps, and tables. No glue or joints are used in the finished pieces, just grafts where necessary. The result is beautifully sculptural pieces that honor the original material and demonstrate what subtle, human intervention can produce. (Click on title for full story.)

  • New Understanding Of Plant Polymers May Make Wooden Skyscrapers A Reality

    Molecules 10,000 times narrower than the width of a human hair could hold the key to making possible wooden skyscrapers and more energy-efficient paper production, according to research published today (Click on title for full story.)

  • Leaf’s Photosynthesis Inspires Solar Drug Manufacture

    Dutch scientists have developed an artificial leaf that can act as a mini-factory for producing drugs, an advance that could allow medicines to be produced anywhere there is sunlight. The work taps into the ability of plants to use sunlight to feed themselves through photosynthesis, something industrial chemists have struggled to replicate because sunshine usually generates too little energy to fuel chemical reactions. (Click on title for full story.)

  • So What About The Seaweed That Tastes Like Bacon? New Super Food?

    You may have recently heard that researchers at Oregon State University were pleasantly surprised to find that, after working two decades with a seaweed species bred to feed abalone, they discovered that they were actually dealing with a delicious seaweed superfood called dulse that tastes like bacon when it’s fried. Clearly, we needed to go deeper, so we talked to researchers and chefs who’ve been using kale’s funkier, cooler younger brother. Here’s what we learned: (Click on title for full story.)

  • Our Wildlife-Friendly Gardens Are Killing More Birds

    Are wildlife-friendly yards that are filled with native plants and tall trees less or more deadly to wild birds? Previous work hinted that bird feeders might actually increase bird-window collisions (ref), so the obvious follow-up question to that work became; “Does the distance of feeders from windows affect the number of collisions? (Click on title for full story.)

  • When Were Plants First Cooked For Food?

    Prehistoric people may have cooked wild grains and plants in pots as early as 10,000 years ago, according to new evidence. Scientists say the food was “a kind of porridge”, acting as the staple diet when there was no meat from hunting. The pottery fragments were found at two sites in the Libyan Sahara, which was then green and fertile. The ability to prepare plants and grains in pots would have been a big advance at the time.(Click on title for full story.)

  • Diseased Historic Trees Being Saved By Garlic Injections

    Injecting trees with a concentrated form of garlic might help save trees in the UK from deadly diseases. Widespread use of the injection process is impractical and expensive. But it could potentially help save trees of historic or sentimental value. (Click on title for full story.)

  • Longest-lived Tree Species Defends Itself Against Deadly Pine Beetle

    Great Basin bristlecone pine has the longest lifespan of any non-clonal organism worldwide. We found that mountain pine beetle, a native insect which has killed millions of pine trees in the past decade, is not attracted to Great Basin bristlecone pine. (Click on title for full story.)