Collaborate Disseminate
If you’re on a hike, you’d be best steering well clear of the cocklebur weed. While the stalky green plants with curious-looking spiky burs don’t appear particularly deadly, this noxious plant is a killer.Continue ReadingCategory: Health & Wellbein… Continue reading Deadly weed may actually help us look younger, heal faster
For some people who are morbidly obese, changes in diet and lifestyle just aren’t sufficient to shed all the extra weight. A new study suggests that a hibiscus flower extract could help, without the side effects of weight-loss drugs.Continue ReadingCat… Continue reading Hibiscus extract shows promise as natural weight-loss supplement
Nobody likes the idea of herbicides in their veggies, yet hiring workers to pick weeds by hand can be prohibitively expensive for farmers. The Vulcan farm implement offers an alternative, as it automatically spots and yanks out weeds while leaving crop… Continue reading Tractor-towed Vulcan automatically spots and pulls weeds
What do you do if a South American weed is choking up your local Australian waterways? In the case of the cabomba plant, scientists are enlisting the help of the weed’s natural South American enemy, the tiny cabomba weevil.Continue ReadingCategory: Env… Continue reading Australia is using an imported insect to control an imported weed
Solar farms and conventional agriculture are competing for land, and that conflict will likely only get worse as our need for both grows. Scientists at UCLA have now tested a way to combine the two by placing semi-transparent solar cells on the glass r… Continue reading Semi-transparent solar cells boost growth of greenhouse plants
In order to see how well a corn plant is performing photosynthesis, you need to check the angle of its leaves relative to its stem. And while scientists ordinarily have to do so manually with a protractor, a new robotic system can now do the job much m… Continue reading Robotic system checks on corn plants by measuring leaf angles
You may have noticed that strawberries grown in your garden, or at organic farms, tend to be tastier than the regular supermarket variety. According to a new study, the use of commercial fungicides may be to blame.Continue ReadingCategory: ScienceTags:… Continue reading Study says that for growing sweeter strawberries, don’t use fungicides
While crop plants do sequester some atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) via photosynthesis, they could always use a bit of help. California-based startup Andes is aiming to provide that help, by putting carbon-capturing microbes in the soil of farmers’ fi… Continue reading Andes microbial tech uses farmers’ fields to capture greenhouse gases
Using drones for aerial seeding may seem like a good idea, but … the seeds could easily just blow away if left on the surface of the soil. A bio-inspired seed carrier has been designed to help, by corkscrewing its seed load down into the ground.Continu… Continue reading Plant-inspired E-seeds drill themselves into the dirt when moistened
It’s a sad fact that even though bees are essential to pollinating crops, they’re also harmed by the pesticides used on those very same plants. Thanks to a new discovery, however, a bee-friendly pesticide could soon be cheaper and easier to produce.Con… Continue reading Plant discovery could lead to wider use of bee-friendly pesticides