Plants

  1. Climate

    Abigail Swann’s alternate Earths show how plants shape climate

    Abigail Swann's studies reveal that water vapor from forests can affect drought patterns a hemisphere away.

    By
  2. Life

    Michelle O’Malley seeks greener chemistry through elusive fungi

    Michelle O’Malley studies anaerobic gut fungi, microbes that could help make chemicals and fuels from sustainable sources.

    By
  3. Life

    Connecting our dwindling natural habitats could help preserve plant diversity

    As pristine habitats shrink worldwide, a massive, 18-year experiment suggests that linking up what's left with natural corridors could help ecosystems retain plant diversity.

    By
  4. Plants

    Why tumbleweeds may be more science fiction than Old West

    A tumbleweed is just a maternal plant corpse giving her living seeds a chance at a good life somewhere new.

    By
  5. Science & Society

    ‘The Nature of Life and Death’ spotlights pollen’s role in solving crimes

    In ‘The Nature of Life and Death,’ botanist Patricia Wiltshire recounts some of her most memorable cases.

    By
  6. Neuroscience

    Plants don’t have feelings and aren’t conscious, a biologist argues

    The rise of the field of “plant neurobiology” has this scientist and his colleagues pushing back.

    By
  7. Ecosystems

    Planting trees could buy more time to fight climate change than thought

    Earth has nearly a billion hectares suitable for new forests to start trapping carbon, a study finds.

    By
  8. Plants

    ‘Slime’ shows how algae have shaped our climate, evolution and daily lives

    The new book ‘Slime’ makes the case that algae deserve to be celebrated.

    By
  9. Life

    ‘Sneezing’ plants may spread pathogens to their neighbors

    A “surface tension catapult” can fling dewdrops carrying fungal spores from water-repellent leaves.

    By
  10. Archaeology

    People may have smoked marijuana in rituals 2,500 years ago in western China

    Cannabis may have been altering minds at an ancient high-altitude cemetery, researchers say

    By
  11. Life

    Some fungi trade phosphorus with plants like savvy stockbrokers

    New views show how fungi shift their stores of phosphorus toward more favorable markets where the nutrient is scarce.

    By
  12. Environment

    How one fern hoards toxic arsenic in its fronds and doesn’t die

    To survive high levels of arsenic, a fern sequesters the heavy metal in its shoots with the help of three proteins.

    By