The Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) is a carnivorous plant that encloses its prey using modified leaves as a trap. During this process, electrical signals known as action potentials trigger the closure of the leaf lobes. ...
General Physics
Feb 2, 2021
1
152
All plant cells can be made to react by touch or injury. The carnivorous Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) has highly sensitive organs for this purpose: sensory hairs that register even the weakest mechanical stimuli, amplify ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 11, 2020
0
154
Researchers at EPFL and the University of Bern have developed a groundbreaking method for studying the electrical signals of cardiac muscle cells. The technology has numerous potential applications in basic and applied research—such ...
Bio & Medicine
Sep 4, 2019
0
38
Physically bound to a specific location, plants have to devise special ways to secure their supply of vital nutrients. Most plants have developed a root system to the nutrients they need in order to survive out of the soil. ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 9, 2019
0
140
A new way of measuring atomic-scale magnetic fields with great precision, not only up and down but sideways as well, has been developed by researchers at MIT. The new tool could be useful in applications as diverse as mapping ...
General Physics
Mar 15, 2019
1
891
It's the small pieces that make the big picture, and in this case, the pieces can't be seen by the naked eye. New research at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) used microscopy techniques ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 5, 2019
0
12
Unique genetic re-wiring of a sodium channel explains how a family of electric fish can generate the highest frequency of electrical discharge seen in any animal. In a study publishing 27 March in the open access journal ...
Biotechnology
Mar 27, 2018
2
156
A human skull, on average, is about 0.3 inches thick, or roughly the depth of the latest smartphone. Human skin, on the other hand, is about 0.1 inches, or about three grains of salt, deep.
Optics & Photonics
Jun 22, 2015
0
35
(Phys.org)—Neurons might not be able to send signals as fast as electrons in wires or photons in fiber, but what if they can communicate using miniature sonic booms? That would be quite a revolutionary discovery. A group ...
(Phys.org) —The mammalian auditory system is one of the most sensitive detectors found in nature. Two kinds of cells, the inner and outer hair cells, work together to transduce mechanical vibrations into action potentials. ...
