May The Fourth Be With You
Reading Time: 5 minutes
The answer to the question, ‘what has a light sabre got to do with how plants express themselves’… Read more
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Blaukraut bleibt Blaukraut – new blue food dye, learnings from COVID, parsnip burns
We’re blue, da ba dee, da ba dye – Our sauerkraut senses were tingling when we read today’s science story about a blue dye made from cabbage. Also: something we can learn from the pandemic and how to get burned by parsnips.… Read more
CAPE FASHION – hipster coffee, Beronda Montgomery, SciComm for PlantSci
Your favourite tools are back to talk about some great science tools: a 28-page guide book for SciComm, DIY microscopes and the best AI-crafted pickup lines this side of the Mississippi. Also some actual plant science.… Read more
Licked by a bee – pollinators, plants and pollinators (also pollinators)
A bumblebee’s tongue is not something we thought to discuss but here we are. This week, by pure coincidence, is all about plants and their pollinators. Follow the buzz, sip some nectar and come along for some plant science.… Read more
The etymology of loot – extremophiles, subtraction bias, jargon
This is technically still a plant podcast even though we talk a suspiciously long time about fancy words and worms. There is also a new favourite plant, an awesome researcher and cool new science from the last week or so!
- Eutrema salsugineum – eXtreme Plants
- Learning from Evolution: Thellungiella Generates New Knowledge on Essential and Critical Components of Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants
- Berta Lange de Morretes, 1917 – 2016 (99 years)
- Gabrielle Adams on Twitter
- Video: Less is more: Why our brains struggle to subtract
- News and Views: Adding is favoured over subtracting in problem solving
- Construction of simple structures drastically improves biotope health along streams
- Hubert Duprat’ precious larvae — Cercle
- Want other scientists to cite you?
Building molecular Legos –ATP synthase research with Etienne Meyer
This week, we’re welcoming our close friend Etienne Meyer to the show. Together with Joram, he just published a new paper on ATP synthase research and we take the chance to talk about it. … Read more
Bug Pest Steals Plant Genes to Neutralize Plant Defences
Reading Time: 4 minutes
Plants and herbivorous insects have long struggled in an evolutionary arms race. Now, in the first example of animals thieving plant genes, research shows that sweet potato whiteflies have overcome plant defences by looting the plants’ own genetic arsenal. … Read more
Explosive Good Looking Salmon – lavender, antarctic exploration, lemurs
There is a worm moon on the rise and we’re here for it. This week, we’re talking about the science behind lavender, the antarctic explorer Rosell Ocampo-Friedmann and our favourite bits and pieces from the last week.… Read more
This superhero protein will fight anaemia
Reading Time: 5 minutes
I like plants a lot – especially when I can eat them. A purely plant based diet, however, might not include enough iron to stay healthy (although not necessarily). New research could change that. … Read more
Mietschuldenfreiheitsbescheinigung – Feral crops, seed maturation, anti-Asian racism
This week, we’re talking about a paper that looks at the internal selection processes happening within plants to decide which fruit makes the cut. Plus a number of interesting facts from the last days.
- When a Crop Goes Back to the Wil: Feralization
- No Effect of Selective Maturation on Fruit Traits for a Bird-Dispersed Species, Sambucus racemosa, Koyama, K.; Tashiro, M. Plants 2021, 10, 376.
- FOSSIL PLANTS found beneath MILE-DEEP GREENLAND ICE—indicating risk of rapid sea-level rise
- A multimillion-year-old record of Greenland vegetation and glacial history preserved in sediment beneath 1.4 km of ice at Camp Century
- Ancient noeggerathialean reveals the seed plant sister group diversified alongside the primary seed plant radiation
- “Pompeii of Prehistoric Plants” Unlocks Evolutionary Secret – Spectacular Fossil Plants Preserved Within a Volcanic Ash Fall
- Climate change: ‘Forever plant’ seagrass faces uncertain future
- To keep nationalism in check, nurture science solidarity World View
- The US Is Building Walls Around Science, and We’re All Poorer for It
- Introduction, adaptation and characterization of monk fruit (Siraitia grosvenorii): a non-caloric new natural sweetener
- Siraitia grosvenorii
- To Protect Local Wildlife, Feed Your Cat Meatier Meals