Scientists discover novel way to 'heal' defects in materials

(Phys.org)—In a paper just published in Nature Materials, a team of researchers that includes William T.M. Irvine, assistant professor in physics at the University of Chicago, has succeeded in creating a defect in the structure ...

The evolution of the mustards' spice

The tangy taste a mustard plant develops to discourage insect predators can be the difference between life and death for the plants. A new study has used this trait and its regional variations to conquer the difficult task ...

Plant poison turns seed-eating mouse into seed spitter (w/ Video)

In Israel's Negev Desert, a plant called sweet mignonette or taily weed uses a toxic "mustard oil bomb" to make the spiny mouse spit out the plant's seeds when eating the fruit. Thus, the plant has turned a seed-eating rodent ...

How plants make cocaine

Cocaine is one of the most commonly used (and abused) drugs, but we have almost no modern information on how plants produce this complex alkaloid. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, ...

Scientists take a giant step for people -- with plants!

Science usually progresses in small steps, but on rare occasions, a new combination of research expertise and cutting-edge technology produces a 'great leap forward.' An international team of scientists, whose senior investigators ...

Production of mustard oils: On the origin of an enzyme

(PhysOrg.com) -- In the evolutionary arms race, small changes can be sufficient to gain a crucial advantage over the enemy. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology found out recently that the ancestor ...

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