Natural brilliant blue food coloring wrung out of red cabbage

It may seem like a basic color, but blue is actually rather rare in the natural world. That complicates the search for natural blue food colorings, but now a team of scientists has found a promising candidate hiding in red cabbage.Continue ReadingCateg… Continue reading Natural brilliant blue food coloring wrung out of red cabbage

Transparent solar cells don’t steal light from greenhouse crops

Advances in transparent solar cells mean that soon we might be able to install them into windows and greenhouses. But in the latter case, would they deprive plants of vital sunlight? To find out, researchers at North Carolina State University grew lett… Continue reading Transparent solar cells don’t steal light from greenhouse crops

Fossilized plants discovered a mile beneath Greenland ice sheet

Scientists have made the surprising discovery of fossilized plants 1.4 km (0.9 miles) beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet. That indicates the island has been ice-free within the last million years or so – meaning it’s more vulnerable to climate change than… Continue reading Fossilized plants discovered a mile beneath Greenland ice sheet

Wearable electrode for plants makes a Venus flytrap close on demand

You mightn’t know it from the outside looking in, but plants are complex organisms that use electrical signals to sense and respond to their surroundings. We’ve previously seen imaginative scientists harness these capabilities to produce cyborg plants … Continue reading Wearable electrode for plants makes a Venus flytrap close on demand

Lunar “Noah’s Ark” concept saves backup of millions of plants and animals

In the event of a global catastrophe – which, let’s be honest, is seeming more and more likely nowadays – how would we protect the wide variety of plants and animals on Earth? A team of researchers has proposed a rather dramatic solution: a “Noah’s Ark… Continue reading Lunar “Noah’s Ark” concept saves backup of millions of plants and animals

Allergy seasons getting longer and more severe thanks to climate change

For many people, the beauty of spring is countered by the sneezing, runny nose and itchy eyes of allergies that come with the warmer weather. For those people, science has some bad news – climate change seems to be making pollen season longer and more … Continue reading Allergy seasons getting longer and more severe thanks to climate change

World’s fastest growing plant offers genomic clues for next-gen crops

Scientists at the Salk Institute’s Harnessing Plants Initiative hope to tackle the issues of climate change and food security by unraveling the genomic architecture behind various plant species, and they’ve just gleaned some valuable lessons from the f… Continue reading World’s fastest growing plant offers genomic clues for next-gen crops

Food waste converted into bacteria-boosting liquid fertilizer

Everyone already knows that compost made from food scraps helps plants to grow. Now, however, scientists have fermented food waste to create a liquid fertilizer that boosts the number of beneficial bacteria within the plants themselves, and in their so… Continue reading Food waste converted into bacteria-boosting liquid fertilizer