Trees and other plants, from towering redwoods to diminutive daisies, are nature's hydraulic pumps. They are constantly pulling water up from their roots to the topmost leaves, and pumping sugars produced by their leaves ...
Biotechnology
Mar 20, 2017
0
1494
You may not realize it, but that backyard hummingbird feeder filled with sugar water is a natural experiment in fermentation—yeast settle in and turn some of the sugar into alcohol.
Plants & Animals
Jun 22, 2023
0
769
Around the world, honeybees are dying in large numbers. This die-off is in part because of a deadly virus that can kill bees or impair their ability to return to the hives after foraging. But in a study published September ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 28, 2021
0
210
Researchers have observed black imported fire ants using sand to draw liquid food out of containers, when faced with the risk of drowning. This is the first time this sophisticated tool use has been reported in animals. These ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 8, 2020
1
1081
Many of us slather ourselves in DEET each summer in hopes of avoiding mosquito bites, and it generally works rather well. Now, researchers reporting in the journal Current Biology on April 25th have made the surprising discovery ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 25, 2019
0
97
Many people set up hummingbird feeders in their yards to nurture and watch these high-energy pollinators. But could the sugar water they provide be impacting these tiny feathered friends?
Ecology
Mar 6, 2019
2
524
Scientists have long assumed that the sugars that nourish trees are pushed by water pressure from the leaves where they are created to the stems and roots where they are needed.
Plants & Animals
Dec 19, 2017
0
70
(Phys.org)—A team of researchers from the University of Jyväskylä in Finland and Technische Universität Braunschweig in Germany has found that the wood tiger moth secretes two different types of fluids from different ...
Scientists from The University of Western Australia's Centre for Integrative Bee Research (CIBER) tagged 200 honey bee workers to find out how a highly-contagious fungal parasite (Nosema apis) impacts their ability to pollinate ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 15, 2016
0
60
String pulling is a popular problem-solving task for investigating cognitive abilities in vertebrates, but has never been tested in insects. Now, a social insect has joined the club, according to a study publishing October ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 4, 2016
0
2
