Sex in plants requires thrust

In a paper to be published in the September 2018 issue of TECHNOLOGY, the thrust produced by the microscopic organ delivering sperm cells in plants has now been measured using microfluidic technology. A team of nano and microsystems ...

The rollercoaster of exploding pollen

When I think about reading peer-reviewed natural history papers—including contemporary articles in a Natural History Miscellany Note or the Scientific Naturalist section—I imagine them mostly as a classic throwback—just ...

Cleaning out pollen shells

As allergy season intensifies, many people are cursing pollen—the powdery substance released by plants for reproduction. However, pollen may serve a purpose beyond making new plants and triggering sneezes. In ACS Biomaterials ...

Hydrogen peroxide assists sexual reproduction in spruce

Plant physiologists from MSU have proved for the first time that dangerous reactive oxygen species that are often considered by-products of energy generation in cells are required by conifers to fertilize egg cells. Experiments ...

Rapid changes in the high Arctic

A new study led by an INSTAAR postdoctoral researcher has found dramatic shifts in the ecosystem of a remote archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in response to recent climate change.

Researchers demonstrate how to control liquid crystal patterns

When Lisa Tran set out to investigate patterns in liquid crystals, she didn't know what to expect. When she first looked through the microscope, she saw dancing iridescent spheres with fingerprint-like patterns etched into ...

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