Showing 20 articles starting at article 61
< Previous 20 articles Next 20 articles >
Categories: Biology: Botany, Paleontology: Climate
Published Study illuminates cues algae use to 'listen' to their environment



New research shows how a small group of single-celled algae are able to use chemical cues to communicate stress information. Understanding this ability, once thought unique to plants, helps illuminate the complex evolutionary history of plants and algae.
Published The evidence is mounting: humans were responsible for the extinction of large mammals



Human hunting, not climate change, played a decisive role in the extinction of large mammals over the last 50,000 years. This conclusion comes from researchers who reviewed over 300 scientific articles from many different fields of research.
Published Choose where to plant energy crops wisely to minimise loss of biodiversity



In the fight to protect biodiversity and limit climate change, the world will reap what it sows.
Published Sixty-million-year-old grape seeds reveal how the death of the dinosaurs may have paved the way for grapes to spread



Scientists discovered the oldest fossil grapes in the Western Hemisphere, which help show how after the death of the dinosaurs, grapes spread across the world.
Published This desert moss has the potential to grow on Mars



The desert moss Syntrichia caninervis is a promising candidate for Mars colonization thanks to its extreme ability to tolerate harsh conditions lethal to most life forms. The moss is well known for its ability to tolerate drought conditions, but researchers now report that it can also survive freezing temperatures as low as 196 C, high levels of gamma radiation, and simulated Martian conditions involving these three stressors combined. In all cases, prior dehydration seemed to help the plants cope.
Published Investigating newly discovered hydrothermal vents at depths of 3,000 meters off Svalbard



Hydrothermal vents can be found around the world at the junctions of drifting tectonic plates. But there are many hydrothermal fields still to be discovered. During a 2022 expedition of the MARIA S. MERIAN, the first field of hydrothermal vents on the 500-kilometer-long Knipovich Ridge off the coast of Svalbard was discovered.
Published Groundbreaking discovery: Zinc can make crop yields more climate-resilient



Climate change, drought, increased temperature and other stressors challenge agricultural sustainability. Researchers have now made an unexpected discovery: zinc plays a pivotal role in the plant response to abiotic stress. This groundbreaking discovery not only sheds light on the intricate mechanisms of plant growth but also holds promise for revolutionizing crop resilience, especially in legume-based agriculture.
Published Scientists discover genetic 'off switch' in legume plants that limits biological ability to source nutrients



A genetic 'off switch' that shuts down the process in which legume plants convert atmospheric nitrogen into nutrients has been identified for the first time by a team of international scientists.
Published New tool enables faster, more cost-effective genome editing of traits to improve agriculture sustainability



New research had the goal of reducing the time and cost it takes to bring an improved crop to the marketplace to improve agriculture sustainability.
Published Ocean's loss of oxygen caused massive Jurassic extinction: Could it happen again?



Researchers have found a chemical clue in Italian limestone that explains a mass extinction of marine life in the Early Jurassic period, 183 million years ago. Volcanic activity pumped out CO2, warming oceans and lowering their oxygen levels. The findings may foretell the impact climate change and oxygen depletion might have on today's oceans.
Published Shocked quartz reveals evidence of historical cosmic airburst



Researchers continue to expand the case for the Younger Dryas Impact hypothesis. The idea proposes that a fragmented comet smashed into the Earth's atmosphere 12,800 years ago, causing a widespread climatic shift that, among other things, led to the abrupt reversal of the Earth's warming trend and into an anomalous near-glacial period called the Younger Dryas.
Published Removal of excess chloride ions by plants when subjected to salt stress



Researchers have discovered a salt adaptation mechanism in plants that facilitates chloride removal from the roots and enhancing salinity tolerance. A research team has uncovered a novel mechanism of plant adaptation to salt stress involving the NaCl-induced translocation of a specific chloride channel protein, AtCLCf.
Published Carbon dioxide's heavy stamp on temperature: Doubling CO2 may mean 7 to 14 degree increase



A doubling of the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere could cause an increase in the average temperature on earth from 7 to even a maximum of 14 degrees. That is shown in the analysis of sediments from the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.
Published New tomato, potato family tree shows that fruit color and size evolved together



A new family tree of the plant genus Solanum helps explain the striking diversity of their fruit color and size. This genus includes tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, and other economically important plants.
Published Wild chimpanzees seek out medicinal plants to treat illness and injuries



Chimpanzees appear to consume plants with medicinal properties to treat their ailments, according to a new study.
Published Interaction with insects accelerates plant evolution



Researchers have discovered that plants benefit from a greater variety of interactions with pollinators and herbivores. Plants that are pollinated by insects and have to defend themselves against herbivores have evolved to be better adapted to different types of soil.
Published AI shows how field crops develop



Researchers developed software that can simulate the growth of field crops. To do this, they fed thousands of photos from field experiments into a learning algorithm. This enabled the algorithm to learn how to visualize the future development of cultivated plants based on a single initial image. Using the images created during this process, parameters such as leaf area or yield can be estimated accurately.
Published Can engineered plants help make baby formula as nutritious as breast milk?



New research may help close the nutrition gap between infant formula and human breast milk. The study shows how plants can be programmed to produce a diverse array of beneficial sugars found in human breast milk. The findings could lead to healthier and more affordable formula for babies, or more nutritious non-dairy plant milk for adults.
Published The rotation of Earth's inner core has slowed, new study confirms



The new study provides unambiguous evidence that the inner core began to decrease its speed around 2010, moving slower than the Earth's surface.
Published Ancient ocean slowdown warns of future climate chaos



When it comes to the ocean's response to global warming, we're not in entirely uncharted waters. A new study shows that episodes of extreme heat in Earth's past caused the exchange of waters from the surface to the deep ocean to decline.