-My Nerdy Nerdiness expresses itself :)
As a chemist, this makes me smile!
Huh, kinda interesting in a “I have no idea what this means” sort of way.
I will admit to having looked a few of these up to be sure I was interpreting them correctly. What you see are the chemical formulas of various substances used to mimic plant-based aromas and flavors. Pretty, and pretty neat. ~AR
(Source: kilikilipowers)
The findings suggest junk DNA really isn’t needed for healthy plants — and that may also hold for other organisms.
Sometimes junk really is just junk. For years, geneticists have tried to determine whether the vast majority of an organism’s DNA—an assortment of so-called junk DNA that seems to serve no purpose—does indeed serve a purpose. Now, thanks to a study published in the journal Nature analyzing the genome of the carnivorous bladderwort, Utricularia gibba, researchers look set to declare the adage true. Far from playing some crucial and mysterious role in the well-being of the plant, it looks like junk DNA really is just junk.
The mystery remains however as to why some organisms have fairly bloated genomes while others have svelte, relatively junk-free ones. Research is, much like a bladderwort, a living process, so it’s entirely possible that new studies will reverse this one in due time. It’s one of the things that makes science exciting, isn’t it? ~AR
So the headline on this story is indulging in a wee bit of hyperbole. Valley Fever, an illness caused by the fungus coccidioidomycosis, isn’t quite ravaging the ranks of Major League Baseball yet (only two players have come down with it), but there is always the possibility that one day it can.
Valley Fever is caused when people breathe in the spores of this fungus which thrives in hot, dry areas like the areas in Arizona where many MLB teams have spring training camps. And there’s been a real uptick in cases recently. On the surface it would seem that climate change would be the most obvious reason behind it’s uptick, but some experts think a more likely cause is the Sun Belt’s economic growth. As populations grow and development and building increase, so too does disruption to the ecosystem. ~AR
(via Valley Fever Throws Baseball a Curve: Scientific American)
Flowers and plants have long been used as medicine, a topic we are covering in our newest exhibition, Wild Medicine: Healing Plants From Around the World. But, it looks like plants can sometimes use a little medicine themselves. In fact some enterprising researcher out there has determined that cut flowers can benefit from the same drug—and achieve similar results—as a popular little blue pill for men.
I’d love to know the story behind the origin for this study. If anyone knows, please, let us know! ~AR
(via Viagra helps flowers last twice as long, study says - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com)
Happy Birthday to David Attenborough!!
87 years and still going strong!
A very happy birthday to one of our very favorite naturalists! ~AR & MN
— Amazon plant discovery could yield green cash crop : Nature News & Comment
—
This excellent, excellent article by Carl Zimmer is not for the faint of heart or thin of skin. I read the whole thing through and by the end had scratched welts into my arms and legs—despite the fact that when a tick is attached you will not feel it. This piece will make you feel covered in itches.
Tick-borne diseases are the price that is paid by many in the northeast who enjoy spending time outdoors. I don’t know a hiker, gardener, or hammock loafer who hasn’t had at least one run-in with a tick. And pretty much everyone I know has had at least one Lyme disease scare.
And we all know who to blame, right? Deer. Mice. Maybe the pet dog. But Japanese barberry? That’s a new one by me. Japanese barberry, Berberis thunbergii, is an invasive plant brought to the United States in the late-19th century as an ornamental plant, but it soon jumped the garden walls and made its way across the northeast’s verdant forests where it grows in giant umbrella-like clumps, spreading across the ground as the arching branches touch the ground. And it turns out to be the perfect environment for ticks to live.
Ticks require humidity to survive. The life cycle of a tick is far more complicated than I could ever have imagined, and kind of makes them even more disgusting than I already thought them. If you spend any time outdoors in the northeast, take the 30-40 minutes it will take you to read this article. It’s fascinating and helpful. Sorry about the itching, though. ~AR
The Complex and Pathogen-Laden World of Ticks | Science | OutsideOnline.com
Jessica M. Clarke is the Garden’s Associate Curator of Glasshouse Collections. She’s also a woman that knows how to coordinate her nails with truly cool orchid species. She recently sent me these photos of an African miniature orchid on display in the orchid display case in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory’s Cloud Forest house. Aside from looking cool Bulbophyllum falcatum is “interesting because it’s rachis is very wide as compared to the size of its’ flowers … it appears as though the flowers are emerging from a paddle-shaped leaf.” And there’s your useless piece of trivia for the next boring cocktail party you find yourself at! ~AR
Did you catch the Garden, last year’s summer exhibition Monet’s Garden, and NYBG scientist Amy Litt this on CBS News Sunday Morning talking about flower power and the amazing science of plant “feelings”? No? Well that’s okay, because you can watch it now and learn all about how plants know that their neighbors are hurt, how flowers know when to open, and how venus flytraps know when to snap shut. But don’t worry vegetarians, you don’t have to worry about eating plants now, too. It turns out they can’t feel that much! ~AR
I received the Lytro camera yesterday at the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium. I am interested in using it for photographing plant specimens that require broad depth of field, but I could not resist giving it a test drive at the 2013 Orchid Show.
Click the image to change the focal point. Double click to zoom in and out.
Submitted by Michael Bevens, Information Manager for Digitization, Herbarium
Thirsty Trees make Thirsty Sounds
The sputter of a straw slurping up the last of your favorite drink is a sound both annoying to your friends and disappointing to you. But, as it turns out, it’s not something relegated to the human experience.
Scientists from Grenoble University in France have discovered that parched trees aren’t quiet about their discontent, either. Quite the opposite, in fact.
When the soil underneath runs dry, the specialized “straws” within the trees’ anatomy—known as xylem—make their need known with near-inaudible noises. And with the right acoustic equipment, scientists think groundskeepers and forest rangers will soon have the wherewithal to know when a tree is going thirsty. They’ll just have to listen for that tell-tale sputter. —MN
There’s no denying it, we love Victoria waterlilies and can’t wait for the balmy days of August and these botanical behemoths to return. But I wasn’t aware that our love was matched—and perhaps surpassed—by the Victorian populace. I can’t wait to dig into this new book documenting their discovery and the obsession surrounding them in Victorian England. ~AR
“We’re not going to have healthy impatiens in the East for a while,” she said. That bed of impatiens might look good now because it’s been sprayed with fungicides, but by June or so, it could well collapse.
Sorry folks, that impatiens downy mildew problem is still around, and looking to get worse. Here’s a selection of alternatives from the New York Times.
Mining has always fallen within the purview of a bold set—grizzled prospectors hunting gold in California, conglomerates with heavy machinery digging coal in Pennsylvania. It’s a dirty, often dangerous, and certainly destructive business. Now scientists think that they can come up with a new, more passive means of attaining valuable earthen materials, even if only industrially.
Enter botanical science.
Like the pennycress plants mentioned in a previous post, “hyperaccumulators” have shown valuable potential for sucking up pollutants from toxic soil. The scope of their appetite can include metals like zinc, cadmium, and nickel. But what if we could use plants to net unseen particles of gold from ground soil? It’s called “phytomining,” and the idea is making the rounds.
The process isn’t as easy as it sounds; scientists have to essentially liquefy the gold using worrisome ground chemicals to make it happen (and probably nullifying many of the environmental benefits we’d see from getting gold particulate in this manner). But they argue that the benefits of using this on already-polluted mining sites could outweigh the negatives. And as explored curiosity goes, it’s at least an interesting concept. Click through for more. —MN
Oh trichomes, you are so amazing! Women in the Balkans have been using these morphological structures on bean leaves to battle bloodsucking bedbugs for centuries. Think of the bean leaves as a little bit like bedbug velcro, and you’re on the right track. I think my favorite quote of this story comes from a scientist at the University of California, Irvine, “If someone had suggested to me that impaling insects with little tiny hooks would be a valid form of pest control, I wouldn’t have given it credence.” And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why funding scientific research (no matter how silly it may sound) is important and vital to humanity’s future in this rapidly changing world of ours. ~AR
(via How a Leafy Folk Remedy Stopped Bedbugs in Their Tracks - NYTimes.com)
Rosemary (in NYBG pot) and friend
Love you, Mom <3
Happy National Public Gardens Day! A female carpenter bee visiting the pea vines yesterday. She’s California’s largest bee.
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY
This Mother’s Day don’t just go local—go native: Fill your weekend with flowers and garden parties at the city’s botanical...
Be the change you want to see in the world.
-Gandhi
Lovely tree peonies at the NY Botanical Garden
