New typology of seed development in late winter-flowering temperate woodland plants
Scientists analyze potential of using lasers to make rain
(Phys.org) -- Although pointing high-energy lasers at the sky to cause pouring rain is currently a high-tech dream, the motivation behind controlling the weather has existed since the days of our ancient ancestors. ...
Jul 16, 2012
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Mexican jumping beans may influence robot design (w/ Video)
(Phys.org) -- Most animals move around by using their appendages, such as legs, wings, or fins. But a few exceptional creatures employ rolling as a mode of locomotion. Included in this group are rolling salamanders, ...
Jun 18, 2012
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Plants 'talk' to plants to help them grow
Researchers build flying robotic 'tree helicopter' (w/ Video)
(PhysOrg.com) -- Many trees disperse their seeds by releasing "helicopters," those single-winged seeds that are also called "samaras." As these seeds fall to the ground, their wing causes them to swirl and ...
Jan 25, 2011
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African fruit 'brightest' thing in nature but does not use pigment to create its extraordinary colour
(Phys.org)—The 'brightest' thing in nature, the Pollia condensata fruit, does not get its blue colour from pigment but instead uses structural colour – a method of reflecting light of particular wavelengths- ...
Sep 10, 2012
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New hypothesis proposed on why some seeds are hard
Hard seeds are prevented from germinating by a water-impermeable seed coat, and for many years this has been considered to be a dormancy mechanism. Scientists from Kew, the University of Bergen and the University ...
May 15, 2013
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Seeing the forest for the trees: Seed dispersal, environmental conditions matter in African forests
US Supreme Court finds for Monsanto in seed patent battle (Update 2)
The US Supreme Court ruled in favor of Monsanto Monday over an Indiana farmer accused of having pirated the genetically-modified crops developed by the agribusiness giant.
May 13, 2013
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Research pushes back origins of agriculture in China by 12,000 years
(Phys.org) —The discovery pushes back the roots of agriculture in China by 12,000 years. The global emergence of similar practices around 23,000 years ago hints that agriculture evolved independently around ...
May 03, 2013
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Color-tunable photonic fibers mimic the fruit of the 'bastard hogberry' plant
(Phys.org)—A team of materials scientists at Harvard University and the University of Exeter, UK, have invented a new fiber that changes color when stretched. Inspired by nature, the researchers identified ...
Jan 28, 2013
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Study finds new way in which plants control flower production
The timing of flowering in plants is critical. It can have profound effects on flower, fruit, and seed production, and consequently agricultural yields. This process is known to depend on daylight and temperature ...
Nov 11, 2012
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Have thieving rodents saved tropical trees?
This beetle uses eggs as shields against wasps
(PhysOrg.com) -- New University of Arizona research has discovered that seed beetles from the desert Southwest shelter their broods from attacking parasitic wasps under a stack of dummy eggs.
Sep 14, 2011
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Key ingredient in mass extinctions could boost food, biofuel production
Hydrogen sulfide, the pungent stuff often referred to as sewer gas, is a deadly substance implicated in several mass extinctions, including one at the end of the Permian period 251 million years ago that ...
Apr 17, 2013
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