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Plants & Agriculture

Home » Plants & Agriculture
The Sahara desert has vast potential for solar and wind power production. (Merzouga, Morocco Sahara desert camel trek/Evaldas Liutkus/Flickr/CC0)

Solar Rainfall

September 10, 2018

Solar and wind farms would provide abundant electricity to the Sahara desert, and result in increased rainfall and vegetation as well.

Read moreSolar Rainfall

INSECTS & SPIDERS

September 7, 2018

INSECTS & SPIDERS (Encore Edition) - Could spider venom be the next insecticide? Why mosquitoes smell you better at night. And debunking the myth of extracting dinosaur DNA from insects preserved in amber. Also, insect legs that bear an uncanny resemblance to modern machinery.

Read moreINSECTS & SPIDERS
Wetlands help dampen the effects of climate change. (Kyle S Hemes)

Cooling Wetlands

September 6, 2018

Marshes could help cool off increasingly hot summer conditions.

Read moreCooling Wetlands
Over the past three decades, temperatures have risen faster in the Arctic than anywhere else in the world. Consequently, the growing season has gotten longer in the far northern latitudes, bringing major changes to plant communities in tundra and boreal (also known as taiga) ecosystems. (NASA)

Plant Fragrance Switch

September 5, 2018

Coaxing plants into producing some fresh-smelling medicinals.

Read morePlant Fragrance Switch

Seed-Inspired Material

August 24, 2018

A tiny seed inspires an engineer to design tough new materials.

Read moreSeed-Inspired Material
Creating more attractive varieties of fruits and vegetables could boost consumption. (silviarita/pixabay)

Prettier Produce

July 31, 2018

With the help of gene editing, fruits and vegetables may soon become prettier and more delicious.

Read morePrettier Produce
Elephants at the Jejane waterhole at Greater Kruger National Park in South Africa. (Mark Wright, University of Hawaii at Mānoa)

Bees & Elephants

July 30, 2018

Bee alarm pheromones act as an effective elephant repellent.

Read moreBees & Elephants
Houseplants. (Kaboompics/Pixabay)

Smart Houseplants

July 20, 2018

Could genetically engineered houseplants protect our homes?

Read moreSmart Houseplants

Microbial Protein Feed

July 3, 2018

Could microorganisms be the key to producing more sustainable protein for the growing human population?

Read moreMicrobial Protein Feed

Pollution, Fungi, and Trees

June 11, 2018

Pollution could be short-circuiting a mutualistic relationship between trees and fungi.

Read morePollution, Fungi, and Trees

Low-Impact Eating

June 5, 2018

A new report details the impacts of foods and how they're produced.

Read moreLow-Impact Eating
A rice paddy in Taiwan. (prometeus_86/Pixabay)

Crops and Climate Change

May 31, 2018

High levels of CO2 may reduce levels of crop nutrients.

Read moreCrops and Climate Change

Mental Microbes

May 16, 2018

Growing up on a farm could help protect people from certain disorders.

Read moreMental Microbes
What does coffee shop behavior have to do with our agrarian past? (StockSnap/Pixabay/CC0)

Starbucks Culture

May 2, 2018

Customers at Starbucks in China show behavioral traits of their agrarian past.

Read moreStarbucks Culture

Greener Biofuels

April 25, 2018

For biofuel makers, the new tax law makes lowering CO2 emissions profitable.

Read moreGreener Biofuels

Rock Water

March 6, 2018

Earth's bedrock helps many forests survive drought.

Read moreRock Water

Soil Bacteria Atlas

January 19, 2018

A global atlas of soil bacteria could help with soil management efforts around the world.

Read moreSoil Bacteria Atlas

Plants of the Americas

December 29, 2017

A comprehensive inventory maps the plants of the Americas.

Read morePlants of the Americas

Fertilizer Blocker

November 23, 2017

A soil additive keeps fertilizer on the farm and out of waterways.

Read moreFertilizer Blocker

Non-Killer Bees

November 20, 2017

Africanized “killer” honeybees in Central and South America are known for their bellicose nature. But not in Puerto Rico.

Read moreNon-Killer Bees

Blue Halos

October 23, 2017

Blue halos on some flowers attract pollinators like bees.

Read moreBlue Halos

Plant Hormones

September 13, 2017

Our gut microbes may respond to hormones in the plants we eat.

Read morePlant Hormones

Leaf Size Limits

September 1, 2017

What limits the maximum size of a plant’s leaves?

Read moreLeaf Size Limits

National Mall Turf

August 21, 2017

What lurks beneath the grass of the National Mall in Washington, D.C.?

Read moreNational Mall Turf
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