A revelation concerning amber-encased plant material suggests current sexual reproduction in angiosperms may have changed little in over 100 million years.
Tag - science communication
Nigel Chaffey
Science: for the sheer fun of it!
Richard Flavell promotes the view that observation-driven studies have a place in science.
What’s in a name..? (The whole world!)
Scientific names of plants are a great way to study geography, history, births of nations, or any other aspect of world knowledge.
Feel the force!
Plants are remarkably sensitive to their environment, responding by appropriate growth and development to a wide range of environmental stimuli. In the case of gravity, the appropriate response is for stems to grow...
You can’t be best at everything…
There is a widespread belief that everything in/of/from/about America is bigger, better, faster, etc, than anything from elsewhere in the world. That is probably the best example of spin over substance ever foisted on...
More myth-busting!
It’s a tribute to the fantasticness of plants – and photosynthesis in particular – that even animals want to be like them. Arguably, none more so than some sea slugs, which for many millennia have eaten seaweeds and...
Ouch! That must hurt…
The model plant Arabidopsis thaliana seems not to be such a good model after all
Temperature: getting it right
Have we been measuring temperature incorrectly all along?
Money doesn’t grow on trees… (2) [Or, From cuddly koalas to bird poo…]
Could the koala's diet of eucalyptus result in gold?
Spotlight on macronutrients: Phosphorus… and Potassium
It’s a little naughty to consider these two elements together, I know, because this may unintentionally add to the confusion that often ensues in class when you ask students to tell you the full chemical names for...
Spotlight on macronutrients: Hydrogen (and oxygen…)
No matter how well we think we understand water, there are always more surprises to uncover.
Spotlight on macronutrients : Carbon (mainly)
Whilst members of the Plant Kingdom might dominate terrestrial biomes, non-Plant Kingdom members are the major photosynthetic organisms in aquatic habitats
Money doesn’t grow on trees..?
The opioid analgesic 'Tramadol' is found to occur naturally in the root bark of the sub-Saharan shrub Nauclea latifoli
Nietzsche reprised
Poisonous Euphorbia damarana didn't kill gemsbok, but instead, made them stronger under challenging environmental conditions.
