Collaborate Disseminate
Watering and fertilizing crops to provide enough food for a changing world is a major challenge in agriculture. Now, scientists at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a “smart soil” that can keep plants better hydrated and provide a contro… Continue reading “Smart soil” grows 138% bigger crops using 40% less water
While there has been a general consensus that olive oil and other plant-based fats are healthier than butter, scientists have now comprehensively put it beyond doubt, combining a number of diet-intervention studies and previous cohort research that all… Continue reading Plant oils should replace butter, and this comprehensive study confirms it
‘Pandemic gardens’ were almost as popular as new pets and sourdough starters during 2020, but many of us learnt the hard way that indoor greenery is not always the easiest thing to keep healthy (or alive). This little gadget is out to change all of tha… Continue reading Clever gadget makes it (near) impossible to kill your houseplants
In a breakthrough for bio-based materials, scientists have made leather from the fibers of discarded pineapple leaves that’s comparable to the real thing and also outperforms other existing plant products. The strong and sustainable material, which com… Continue reading Tough new pineapple leather is 60X stronger than other materials
Mowing might seem like a pretty sensible way to keep weeds at bay. But in the case of the silverleaf nightshade, the activity puts the plant into survival mode causing it to fight back with some pretty powerful defense mechanisms, says a new study.Cont… Continue reading Poisonous ‘super weed’ created by frequent mowing
Scientists have discovered the organism with the largest known genome, containing 160 billion base pairs. That makes it more than 50 times bigger than the human genome, and the organism it’s describing is a tiny fork fern you wouldn’t even notice if you tripped over it in the forest.
Tags: Plants, Genome, DNA, World’s Largest, Genetics
Continue reading Organism with largest genome packs 50x more DNA than a human’s
Scientists have replicated the ingenious seed-delivery system used by wild oats, resulting in a seed-carrying bio-hybrid “robot.” Scores of the tiny devices could one day be utilized for much easier, more effective aerial seeding of crops or even new f… Continue reading Video: Self-planting bio-hybrid “robotic seeds” inspired by wild oats
Inspired by a carnivorous plant, scientists have created a sticky spray that could kill pest insects as effectively as traditional toxic pesticides. And what’s more, it’s derived from plain ol’ vegetable oil.Continue ReadingCategory: ScienceTags: Wagen… Continue reading Sundew-inspired spray may turn crop plants into pest-catchers
The first land plants burst forth from ancient algae onto the Earth about 550 million years ago. This one-off evolutionary event, known as plant terrestrialization, fundamentally changed the planet’s surface and atmosphere and made possible the develop… Continue reading ‘Genetic programs’ allowed the ancestor of all plants to conquer dry land
Pothos plants are already known for being particularly good at purifying indoor air, so imagine if it were possible to make them 30 times better at doing so. Neoplants claims its Neo PX system does just that, using special soil-dwelling bacteria.Contin… Continue reading Air-purifying pothos plants work almost 30X better with microbial boost