Old clones A group of international researchers discovered that an eelgrass colony is about 1400 years old. They managed this feat due to the developing an new age determination method for clones that they published in Nature and Ecology & Evolution. For organisms that multiply by cloning themselves it is difficult to determine their age.Continue reading “Old clones”
Category Archives: Science
Sham consciousness
Sham consciousness As a young researcher I often got told off when saying that a plant ‘decided’ to take action as a reaction to something. The argument was: ‘A plant does not think, so it can not decide.’ Not something you can argue with. But still I keep coming back to words like ‘decide’ whenContinue reading “Sham consciousness”
Pollen navigation
Pollen navigation Multiple fertilizations of an ovule do not contribute to healthy offspring. Plants therefore have taken measures to prevent this. Now researchers from Japan show how a plant manages this. The landing of a pollen grain on a pistil of a flower is only the first hurdle of fertilization. After landing the pollen grainContinue reading “Pollen navigation”
Sensing temperature
Sensing temperature When heat strikes plants can not just find a place in the shade. Instead they initiate their heat protocol. Now German and French researchers report in Nature that they found one of the switches of this protocol. One of the things that the heat stress protocol regulates is making sure that not toContinue reading “Sensing temperature”
Plant en Zo 