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+4 +1
Modern tomatoes are very different from their wild ancestors – and we found missing links in their evolution
The Big Idea: The tomato’s path from wild plant to household staple is much more complex than researchers have long thought. For many years, scientists believed that humans domesticated the tomato in two major phases. First, native people in South America cultivated blueberry-sized wild tomatoes about 7,000 years ago to breed a plant with a cherry-sized fruit. Later, people in Mesoamerica bred this intermediate group further to form the large cultivated tomatoes that we eat today.
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+15 +2
Why bamboo is a super plant which can help combat climate change (6 amazing benefits and more)
Since I was a child I always felt a very close connection to nature and bamboo always had a very close place to my heart. At that time it was only in the form of decorative shrubs in my aunties garden which captivated me and since then I was a fan.
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The wild relatives of major vegetables, needed for climate resilience, are in danger
Growing up in the wild makes plants tough. Wild plants evolve to survive the whims of nature and thrive in difficult conditions, including extreme climate conditions, poor soils, and pests and disease. Their better-known descendants—the domesticated plants that are critical to a healthy diet—are often not nearly as hardy. The genes that make crop wild relatives robust have the potential to make their cultivated cousins—our food plants—better prepared for a harsh climate future. But a series of new research papers show these critical plants are imperiled.
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Recordings reveal that plants make ultrasonic squeals when stressed
Although it has been revealed in recent years that plants are capable of seeing, hearing and smelling, they are still usually thought of as silent. But now, for the first time, they have been recorded making airborne sounds when stressed, which researchers say could open up a new field of precision agriculture where farmers listen for water-starved crops.
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+20 +2
“Exceedingly rare” plant species face increased chances of extinction
According to new research nearly 40 percent of global land plant species can be categorized as very rare, and these species are most at risk of extinction as climate and land use continues to change.
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+3 +1
Ethiopia plants more than 350 million trees in 12 hours
Ethiopia planted more than 353 million trees in 12 hours on Monday, which officials believe is a world record. The burst of tree planting was part of a wider reforestation campaign named "Green Legacy," spearheaded by the country's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Millions of Ethiopians across the country were invited to take part in the challenge and within the first six hours, Ahmed tweeted that around 150 million trees had been planted.
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+17 +6
In the genes: overlooked tomatoes' drought resistance
A once overlooked gene, from a family of “jumping genes”, has been found to hold the potential to accelerate crop breeding through improved drought resistance in tomatoes.
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+24 +3
Amazon fires are destructive, but they aren't depleting Earth's oxygen supply
If the Amazon rainforest functions as our planet's lungs, what do raging wildfires threaten? An atmospheric scientist explains why the fires, though devastating, won't suffocate life on Earth.
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+10 +3
New ‘medicine’ could vaccinate plants against devastating viruses
Few things are scarier to a pumpkin farmer than the letters CMV. They stand for cucumber mosaic virus, a pathogen that lays waste to entire fields of pumpkins, cucumbers, and melons. Now, researchers have found a way to quickly develop vaccines that could eventually protect crops from viral pathogens.
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+11 +2
An Atmospheric Drought Is Slowing Plant Growth Worldwide, Study Says - D-brief
Less water in the air means plants grow more slowly, hurting crop yields. It could also add to global warming.
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+39 +6
Don't Waste Your Emotions on Plants, They Have No Feelings, Grumpy Scientists Say
Contrary to what some scientists have suggested, plants don’t think, feel or learn; consciousness is a characteristic of animals alone, experts say.
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+31 +4
Scientists are stumped about why this stump is still alive
Trees may be more connected than we think, suggests a new study that provides the first evidence neighbouring trees directly share water through their root systems.
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+34 +6
The history of the Wardian case, the box that changed the world
When two boxes packed with ferns and grasses survived the six-month ocean journey from London to Sydney in 1833, gardeners rejoiced.
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+10 +2
Group of biologists tries to bury the idea that plants are conscious
Environmental crisis clouding scientific objectivity about plants’ feelings, says botanist
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+25 +5
Almost 600 plants have gone extinct in last 250 years: report
Almost 600 plant species have been wiped from the planet in the past 250 years, more than twice the number of bird, mammal and amphibian species that have met the same fate, according to a new study.
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+13 +2
Earliest Known Psychoactive Cannabis Use Discovered in 2,500-Year-Old Tomb
A round the world, approximately 147 million people use cannabis. For many of them, the goal is to feel the effects of the plant’s psychoactive compound, ∆-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, better known as THC. While today it’s no mystery that marijuana can get you high, it’s unclear when humans made this discovery. On Wednesday, in Science Advances, an answer emerged: Humans have used cannabis for its psychoactive effects for at least 2,500 years.
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3 plants from U.S. Civil War medical guide fight infection
A 1863 guide for battlefield surgeons reveals plants with antiseptic effects. Could they help fight drug-resistant infections today?
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+8 +2
Exploring the origins of the apple
Recent archaeological finds of ancient preserved apple seeds across Europe and West Asia combined with historical, paleontological, and recently published genetic data are presenting a fascinating new narrative for one of our most familiar fruits. The apple was originally spread by ancient megafauna and later as a process of trade along the Silk Road. When previously separated varieties came into contact, hybridization and grafting allowed for the development of the varieties that we know today.
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+12 +2
These tiny, mysterious fish may be key to solving coral reef ‘paradox’
If a snorkeler or scuba diver is lucky enough to spy a cryptobenthic fish—named for its elusive nature—all they may glimpse is a brief flash of color. But these tiny swimmers may be a cornerstone of coral reefs, making it possible for bigger, more charismatic fish and many invertebrates to thrive, according to a new study. And they could help solve a mystery that stumped even the father of evolution, Charles Darwin.
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+11 +1
Climate change made the Arctic greener. Now parts of it are turning brown.
The Chugach people of southern Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula have picked berries for generations. Tart blueberries and sweet, raspberry-like salmonberries — an Alaska favorite — are baked into pies and boiled into jams. But in the summer of 2009, the bushes stayed brown and the berries never came. For three more years, harvests failed. “It hit the communities very hard,” says Nathan Lojewski, the forestry manager for Chugachmiut, a nonprofit tribal consortium for seven villages in the Chugach region.
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