Collaborate Disseminate
A new study has found caffeine can be used to help bees locate specific flowers. The research suggests the drug enhances bee memory and makes them more efficient at homing in on certain targeted flowers.Continue ReadingCategory: Biology, ScienceTags: B… Continue reading Caffeine-boosted bees more efficiently home in on target flowers
While you might think that it’s best to keep crops fungus-free, there are some fungi that actually help plants grow. In order to better observe that relationship, scientists have created plants with roots that turn red when infiltrated by beneficial fu… Continue reading Engineered plants’ roots turn red when helpful fungi show up
Food security is a major potential problem, especially in the face of climate change. Now, researchers have shown that manipulating RNA in plants can drastically boost the amount of food they produce, and make them more resistant to drought conditions…. Continue reading Simple RNA tweak boosts potato and rice yields by 50 percent
Because fruits just dangle from the main plant before ultimately falling off, one might think that they are unable to communicate with that plant. According to new research, however, tomato fruits are able to transmit alerts to their mother plant when … Continue reading Tomato study suggests fruits can warn mother plants of pest attacks
[Théo Gautier] thought that a human-following utility trailer would be helpful for people working on farms. He didn’t just think about it, however, he designed and built it as a …read more Continue reading Human-Following Utility Trailer
If you want to know how much water a plant is taking up, one of the best places to look is in its leaves. A new material known as AquaDust could help scientists more easily do so, without harming the plant.Continue ReadingCategory: ScienceTags: Cornell… Continue reading AquaDust gel reveals water levels of plant leaves
According to Pennsylvania State University’s Asst. Prof. Long He, the mushroom-farming industry is currently experiencing a labor shortage. His team has thus set about addressing that problem, by developing a mushroom-picking robot.Continue ReadingCate… Continue reading Suction-cup-equipped robot designed to pick and trim farmed mushrooms
Although the use of conventional pesticides is harmful to the environment, farmers still need a way of keeping crop-damaging organisms at bay. According to a new study, an eco-friendly combination of agricultural and beer brewing waste products may be … Continue reading Beer brewing waste shown to help kill crop-harming parasites
Panasonic is involved in a project on the island of Ishigaki, southwest of Okinawa, to seek ways to grow vegetables in subtropical monsoon conditions. Part of the Japanese government’s Asian Monsoon Plant Factory System (PFS) Consortium, the goal is to… Continue reading Japan’s IT greenhouse built to grow produce in monsoon conditions
One of the challenges of farming lies in the fact that by the time plants appear to be diseased or otherwise stressed, it may already be too late to address the problem. A new type of potato, however, is designed to warn farmers by fluorescing at the e… Continue reading Genetically engineered potato plant “glows” in response to stress