Plenty of students cheat on tests by copying off neighbors, and it turns out that grasses are doing the same thing. Scientists have found evidence that some species of grasses are stealing genes from their neighbors to help them adapt, effectively bypassing millions of years’ worth of evolution.
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Living in a crowded inner city means that many residents don't have a garden of their own, so are unable to grow their own veggies. Last year's OGarden moved gardening indoors, mounting plants on a ferris-like wheel. The design has now been updated, resulting in the OGarden Smart.
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A new study of satellite data has shown that the Earth has gotten “greener” in the last 20 years or so, with the biggest contributors being China and India. Before we celebrate though, there are a few caveats to consider.
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Sulfur is often chemically "scrubbed" from the flue-gas emissions of coal-burning power plants. Gypsum (aka calcium sulfate) is produced as a byproduct of the process, and typically ends up in landfills. According to new research, however, it could be used to boost crops in a number of ways.
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Plants might not seem like the most exciting thing to model robots after, but they could make for high-tech decorations or house plants that look after themselves. Now, a team of Italian researchers has developed a soft robot that moves like plant tendrils, climbing and curling around objects.
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Tomatoes are certainly hardy plants – this is partly due to a compound which they emit, known as hexenyl butyrate (HB). Spanish scientists have now found that a spray of synthetic HB helps various crop plants to withstand both drought and bacterial infections.
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A team of researchers has, for the first time, demonstrated that by fixing a common glitch in photosynthesis, a crop’s yield could be improved by around 40 percent. The landmark study suggests optimizing a plant’s photosynthetic efficiency could significantly increase worldwide food productivity.
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While plants do help clean the air within a home, it is estimated that over 20 per room would be required to make a difference. That likely wouldn't be the case with a new genetically-modified ivy, however, which has proven to be highly effective at removing chloroform and benzene from the air.
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Plants are incredibly complex organisms that sense and react to their surroundings. Their normal methods of getting around are pretty slow, so to give them a helping hand researchers at MIT have now created “cyborg plants” that can control a robot base to drive themselves where they want to go.
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Essential oils are most commonly associated with aromatherapy and other alternative “medicines." Now a team at Johns Hopkins has found that some essential oils may have antibiotic properties, particularly against a persisting form of the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.
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