Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) report boosting plants’ ability to capture light energy by 30 percent by embedding carbon nanotubes in the chloroplast, the part of the plant where photosynthesis takes place. The new field of “plant nanobionics” could, according to the research team, create plants with enhanced energy production that are […]
Tag Archives | Plant
Modern crops’ lack of adaptability threatens global food chains
Using the largest dated evolutionary tree of flowering plants ever assembled, new research suggests how plants developed traits to withstand low temperatures, with implications that human-induced climate change may pose a bigger threat than initially thought to global agriculture. The new study appearing in the journalNature, shows many angiosperms (flowering plants) evolved mechanisms to cope […]
Toxic insects to blame for carnivorous plant decline?
Reporting their findings in the journalEnvironmental Science & Technology, British scientists say they have evidence that the consumption of insects contaminated with a toxic metal may be a factor in the mysterious global decline of carnivorous plants. The study authors, Bournemouth University scientists Iain Green and Christopher Moody, note that many species of carnivorous plants […]
Evolutionary Algorithms Used To Design A Better Leaf
A computer model of a plant that mimics the process of evolution produces more leaves and fruit without needing extra fertilizer. The University of Illinois researchers who designed the in silico plant say that theirs is the first computer model to simulate every step of the photosynthetic process. Researcher Steve Long said that the research […]
Evidence Of Altruism In Plants
Gardeners believe that some pairs of plants get along better than others, and it now seems there may be scientific evidence to back up the notion. Researchers from McMaster University in Canada have found that plants get fiercely competitive when forced to share their pot with strangers of the same species, but they’re accommodating when […]