Plants

  1. Neuroscience

    Catnip repels insects. Scientists may have finally found out how

    The plant deters mosquitoes and fruit flies by triggering a chemical receptor that, in other animals, senses pain and itch.

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  2. Plants

    Modified genes can distort wild cotton’s interactions with insects

    In a Yucatan nature park, engineered genes influence nectar production, affecting ants’ and maybe pollinators’ attraction to the wild cotton plants.

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  3. Life

    A reeking, parasitic plant lost its body and much of its genetic blueprint

    The Sapria himalayana flower's extreme parasitic lifestyle inside the body of its host has left a bizarre imprint on its genome.

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  4. Tech

    A robot arm toting a Venus flytrap can grab delicate objects

    By attaching electrodes to the plant’s leaves, researchers found a way to snap its traps shut on command.

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  5. Plants

    Rats with poisonous hairdos live surprisingly sociable private lives

    Deadly, swaggering rodents purr and snuggle when they’re with mates and young.

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  6. Plants

    These plants seem like they’re trying to hide from people

    A plant used in traditional Chinese medicine has evolved remarkable camouflage in areas with intense harvesting pressure, a study suggests.

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  7. Planetary Science

    Farming on Mars will be a lot harder than ‘The Martian’ made it seem

    Lab experiments developing and testing fake Martian dirt are proving just how difficult it would be to farm on the Red Planet.

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  8. Plants

    How passion, luck and sweat saved some of North America’s rarest plants

    As the list of plants no longer found in the wild grows, botanists and conservationists search for signs of hope — and sometimes get lucky.

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  9. Plants

    How Venus flytraps store short-term ‘memories’ of prey

    Glowing Venus flytraps reveal how calcium buildup in the cells of leaves acts as a short-term “memory” that helps the plants identify prey.

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  10. Life

    This parasitic plant eavesdrops on its host to know when to flower

    Dodder plants have no leaves to sense when to bloom, so the parasites rely on a chemical cue from their hosts instead.

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  11. Plants

    New Guinea has more known plant species than any island in the world

    In the first verified count of plants on New Guinea, a team of 99 botany experts identified more than 13,600 species.

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  12. Life

    Wild bees add about $1.5 billion to yields for just six U.S. crops

    Native bees help pollinate blueberries, cherries and other crops on commercial farms.

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