Aspirin shown to help native grasses grow on restored land

When restoring former industrial or agricultural land back to its natural state, it’s vitally important to reestablish ground cover plants such as native grasses. According to a new study, the addition of aspirin helps those grasses grow.Continue Readi… Continue reading Aspirin shown to help native grasses grow on restored land

AquaDust gel reveals water levels of plant leaves

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

Genetically engineered potato plant “glows” in response to stress

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

Tiny harvester designed to draw chemicals straight from plant cells

Imagine if in order to get apple juice, the whole tree had to be ground up, and then the juice had to be separated from everything else. Well, that’s kind of how things currently are with therapeutic plant extracts … but perhaps not for much longer, th… Continue reading Tiny harvester designed to draw chemicals straight from plant cells

Flower mimics the scent of dead beetles to draw in helpful flies

Although we’ve already heard about plants that mimic the smell of rotten meat or feces in order to attract pollen-spreading scavengers, botanists have now discovered that a certain plant really focuses that concept – it mimics the smell of dead beetles… Continue reading Flower mimics the scent of dead beetles to draw in helpful flies

Click & Grow puts a veggie patch on your kitchen countertop

The company behind the Smart Herb Garden we reviewed back in 2014 has launched a new indoor garden on Kickstarter. The Click & Grow 25 system promises to grow “substantial amounts of greens for everyday use, without becoming a time-consuming hobby.”Con… Continue reading Click & Grow puts a veggie patch on your kitchen countertop

Self-contained SmartFarm grows plants using water drawn from the air

In many parts of the world there may not be much precipitation, but there is a fair amount of water vapor in the air – particularly at night. An experimental new device draws in that vapor, then uses it to irrigate edible plants.Continue ReadingCategor… Continue reading Self-contained SmartFarm grows plants using water drawn from the air

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