The Sciences
Tiny Ocean Plants Geoengineer Brighter Clouds
Marine life seems to create a reflective sunshade above the Southern Ocean
"plants"
The Sciences
Root Fungi Can Turn Pine Trees Into Carnivores — or at Least Accomplices
Root fungi may confer dark but useful powers on their plant hosts
Evolution
Dying Trees Can Send Food to Neighbors of Different Species
No tree is an island, and no place is this truer than the forest
Turning to Bacteria to Fight the Effects of Climate Change
Recently the United Nations warned that the world could suffer a 40 percent shortfall in water by 2030 unless countries dramatically cut consumption.
Health
Botanical Sexism Cultivates Home-Grown Allergies
It's the time year for watery eyes and itchy noses, and if you're among the afflicted, you may be surprised to learn that decades of botanical sexism in urban landscapes have contributed to your woes...
Environment
What about Earth’s Microbiome?
The latest temperature readings from Antarctica are giving the world pause, along with the finding that 70 percent of the western Antarctic ice shelf has melted.
Evolution
Darwin: the Movie
It’s true, Mr. and Ms. Hollywood Producer, Nash, Hawking, Turing were great and all, and their stories brought big bucks and a few Oscars rolling your way, but come on!
Evolution
Ferns Get It On After 60 Million Years Apart
An unassuming little fern has left scientists scratching their heads at the feat of reproductive hijinks it apparently represents. The fern, xCystocarpium roskamianum(the prefix ‘x’ indicates it is a hybrid), collected in the French Pyrenees, appeared to be a blend of two ferns they know well...
Environment
30 Heat-Tolerant Strains of Beans Identified
New strains of beans that beat the heat could do more than protect food security; they could even expand into new territories
Birdwatchers, Hunters Train Their Scopes on Conservation
Sparked by Richard Louv's book on Nature-Deficit Disorder, many organizations, agencies, teachers and the White House have made the push to get people outside for the benefit of their mental and physical health...
Environment
Critically Endangered Plant with Brilliant Purple Flowers Discovered in Hawaii
Here's the crazy thing about living in Hawaii: Even though the islands are home to more than 18,000 unique species that live nowhere else on Earth, the people of Hawaii rarely see those native plants and animals...
Evolution
For These Plants, No Victim is Too Small
The tropical plant Genlisea is a tiny, homely rosette of simple green leaves. If you dig up its roots, you will find what look like an unremarkable bunch long, pale underground roots.
Environment
Venus Flytraps Risk Extinction in the Wild at the Hands of Poachers
Earlier this month four men were arrested for poaching on the Holly Shelter Game Land preserve in North Carolina. Their arrest made national headlines, and history, as they became the first people charged with a felony for stealing Venus flytrap plants (Dionaea muscipula) from the wild...
Evolution
Wonderful Things: Ferns Eject Their Spores with Medieval-Style Catapults
Author's note: This is the latest post in the Wonderful Things series. You can read more about this series here. One of the more under-appreciated and ingenious machines evolved by plants is the cavitation catapult of leptosporangiate ferns...
The Lawson Trek: Paddling the Intracoastal Waterway
We stopped for lunch during the first day of the Lawson Trek on an oyster shoal, an uncharacteristically hot October sun stinging my shoulders, but surprisingly unbothered by four hours of kayak paddling...
Environment
Call of the Orangutan: A Camera Trap Menagerie
In order to get more information about the forest here at the Sikundur research station in North Sumatra, I've set up four camera traps, which I'm using to get a better look at the wildlife around the site...
Amborella, the Ancient Shrub with the Hoard of Foreign Genes
“Amborella trichopoda (3173820625)-2” by Amborella_trichopoda_(3173820625).jpg: Scott Zona from USA derivative work: Bff – Amborella_trichopoda_(3173820625).jpg.
Evolution
Fern Frozen in Time by Volcanic Flow Reveals Stunning Detail
It defies belief, but a 180 million year old fern fossil unearthed in Sweden is so exquisitely preserved that it is possible to see its cells dividing.
The Lawson Trek: Finding Something New
Editor's note: For The Lawson Trek, journalist Scott Huler is retracing the journey of discovery undertaken by canoe and on foot in 1700-1701 by John Lawson, the first observer to carefully describe and catalogue the flora, fauna, geography and inhabitants of the Carolinas...
Did Climate Shocks Shape Human Evolution? [Video]
In a video, noted scientists debate the connections between ancient climate changes and the emergence of modern human traits.
