Plants

Common ivy is better known as a garden invader or a rather attractive indoor plant that's prone to triggering allergies. Now, for the first time, it's been found to be very effective in blocking pain signals – by instead invading a key pain receptor.

When it comes to monitoring the health of crops, aerial images captured by aircraft are only going to tell you so much. That's where an experimental new spectral sensor comes in, as it's mounted directly on the underside of individual plants' leaves.

Unlike nearly all flowering plants, which rely on the likes of wind or animals to reproduce, the squirting cucumber instead uses "ballistic seed dispersal," shooting a forceful, watery jet more than 30 feet into the air. And now we know how it does it.

Even if you don't know what 3D microfluidic networks are, that doesn't change the fact that they have some very valuable possible uses. Scientists have now devised a much easier method of making the things, by taking casts of plant roots.

Scientists in Japan have created hybrid plant-animal cells, essentially making animal cells that can gain energy from sunlight like plants. The breakthrough could have major benefits for growing organs and tissues for transplant, or lab-grown meat.

If you were a flowering plant, wouldn't you want your pollen to be received by a plant of your own kind? According to a new study, at least one plant may ensure that happens, by blasting "rival" pollen off of pollinating animals' bodies.

It's always best if farmers can detect drought stress before crop plants become wilted, weakened and lower-yielding. An experimental new portable device could help in that regard, as it uses ultrasound to spot such stress in its earliest stages.

Many indoor plant enthusiasts know that mirrors can be used to direct more sunlight onto plants that need it. Scientists have now developed a method of applying that same principle to tree seedlings that are struggling to grow in shady forests.

Glass-fragment waste typically just ends up in landfills, but perhaps that doesn't always have to be the case. A study shows that ground glass particles can be mixed with soil to produce a plant growth medium that's actually better than soil alone.

Everybody loves roses, but we'd probably love them even more if they didn't have those sharp thorns. Well, scientists have found a way of growing thornless roses, and their findings could lead to easier-to-harvest crops.

Scientists at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a “smart soil” that can keep plants better hydrated and provide a controlled release of nutrients. In tests it drastically improved crop growth while using far less water.

While there has been a general consensus that olive oil and other plant-based fats are better for you than butter, scientists have now put it beyond doubt, combining diet-intervention and previous cohort research to assess serious disease risk.