Green is back for a few months in the northern hemisphere as winter is slowly giving way to spring. Living cells that have slumbered are now awake and starting to divide, forcing green buds and colorful petals to grow. Dormant genes are being turned on and active genes being switched off. New growth above and … More 🌱
There are 400,000 known species of plants on Earth. 350,000 are flowering plants. How do we know? How does plant go from unknown to known? Someone, a person, has to notice. To think it matters. There have been countless botanists throughout human history observing the natural world. Plant collection and documentation got to be big … More Uncovering what’s there.
Orchid species (Orchidaceae)Â have colonized every part of the world, as humans have. Though, humans are one species and orchid species number in the tens of thousands. And of course, describing a group of plants with global reach and varied life strategies is an impossible task, like capturing all of humanity in one image. Collectively, like … More Finding your Fungus.
Climate change is a problem humanity is currently causing and facing. Along with the rest of life on Earth, including plants. 2017 was one of the hottest years on record. The arctic is our early warning of a potential future. Policy changes and action on climate are fundamentally selfish – it will maintain the conditions … More Telling stories of plants in a world of unchecked climate change.
Recently, Evolutionary biology PhD candidate and science communicator Sally LePage discovered that 10 of 12 water companies in the UK use divining rods. It was picked up by The Guardian amongst other places. Phantom Sense Divining rods, or dowsing objects, do not work. They are no better than chance and Le Page cites the evidence … More Finding water.
Yes, some spoilers of Stranger Things, the popular Netflix series are enclosed within. If you don’t want to know, come back once you’ve watched. The Duffer Brother’s series Stranger Things has an eeriness to it, that there is something else to the world just beyond human perception. It took Eleven, a girl who is forced by the … More Welcome to The Real Upsidedown.
atI had the pleasure of attending Sci Comm Camp for a 2nd year. It made me think about communicating science generally, but also how to better relate plant science specifically. Amongst the sweet smell of false pepper trees (Schinus molle, Anacardiaceae) and stands of white bark-shedding eucalyptus trees (Eucalyptus sp., Myrtaceae), 80 or so science … More Plant the seeds of curiosity: Dispatch from Sci Comm Camp 2017
Give up on that riddle? Well, you’re right in thinking there’s not a lot in common between them. All life is connected, however, some is just further apart on the evolutionary bush than others. One is an animal, one is a plant. A lot of evolution and an endosymbiont (the chloroplast plants have that animals … More How is a Naked Mole Rat Like a Plant?
This is a guest post by Kimberly McCoy. If you’ve ever seen a tree trunk frothing like a dog with rabies, don’t worry, it won’t bite. I recently came across a tree that had a white, bubbling liquid oozing slowly from its bark, and no idea what it was. I saw these two oozing river … More Odd Oozing From The Trees
A New Phase Two years ago I planted the seed that grew into what this blog has become today. It’s gone better than I thought and has provided opportunities to write for other blogs, a society magazine, and been an integral part of my growth as a science writer, and re-awoken my love of science … More Changes at The Quiet Branches.
The Quiet Branches 