Botany News
August 25, 2025
Top Headlines
Aug. 23, 2025 — A new study reveals that the majority of Earth’s species stem from a few evolutionary explosions, where new traits or habitats sparked rapid diversification. From flowers to birds, these bursts explain most of the planet’s ...
Aug. 21, 2025 — Planting more trees can help cool the planet and reduce fire risk—but where they are planted matters. According to UC Riverside researchers, tropical regions provide the most powerful climate benefits because trees there grow year-round, absorb ...
Aug. 18, 2025 — NASA-backed simulations reveal that meltwater from Greenland’s Jakobshavn Glacier lifts deep-ocean nutrients to the surface, sparking large summer blooms of phytoplankton that feed the Arctic food ...
Aug. 15, 2025 — Weaver ants have cracked a teamwork puzzle that humans have struggled with for over a century — instead of slacking off as their group grows, they work harder. These tiny architects not only build elaborate leaf nests but also double their pulling ...
Aug. 1, 2025 — Ape behavior just got a name upgrade — “scrumping” — and it might help explain why humans can handle alcohol so well. Researchers discovered that African apes regularly eat overripe, ...
July 25, 2025 — Fermenting stevia with a banana leaf-derived probiotic turns it into a powerful cancer-fighting agent that kills pancreatic cancer cells while sparing healthy ones. The secret lies in a metabolite called CAME, produced through microbial ...
July 16, 2025 — Scientists have discovered that a protein once thought to be just a cellular "courier" actually helps plants survive drought. This motor protein, myosin XI, plays a critical role in helping leaves close their pores to conserve water. When it's ...
July 10, 2025 — Climate change is silently sapping the nutrients from our food. A pioneering study finds that rising CO2 and higher temperatures are not only reshaping how crops grow but are also degrading their nutritional value especially in vital leafy greens ...
July 7, 2025 — Danish and Welsh botanists sifted through 400 studies, field-tested seed mixes, and uncovered a lineup of native and exotic blooms that both thrill human eyes and lure bees and hoverflies in droves, ...
July 6, 2025 — Kenyan fig trees can literally turn parts of themselves to stone, using microbes to convert internal crystals into limestone-like deposits that lock away carbon, sweeten surrounding soils, and still yield fruit—hinting at a delicious new weapon in ...
June 24, 2025 — Lichen from the Mojave Desert has stunned scientists by surviving months of lethal UVC radiation, suggesting life could exist on distant planets orbiting volatile stars. The secret? A microscopic “sunscreen” layer that protects their vital ...
June 24, 2025 — Two Ice Age wolf pups once thought to be early dogs have been identified as wild wolves, thanks to detailed DNA and chemical analysis. Surprisingly, their last meals included woolly rhinoceros ...
Latest Headlines
updated 1:06pm EDT
Aug. 9, 2025 — The newly described Mirasaura grauvogeli from the Middle Triassic had a striking feather-like crest, hinting that complex skin appendages arose far earlier than previously believed. Its bird-like ...
Aug. 2, 2025 — Long before evolution equipped them with the right teeth, early humans began eating tough grasses and starchy underground plants—foods rich in energy but hard to chew. A new study reveals that this ...
Aug. 1, 2025 — About 9 million years ago, a wild interspecies fling between tomato-like plants and potato relatives in South America gave rise to one of the ...
July 30, 2025 — Scientists have used artificial intelligence to upgrade plant immune systems, potentially revolutionizing how crops like tomatoes and potatoes can defend against harmful bacteria. By reengineering ...
July 29, 2025 — In the quest to understand how and why early humans started walking on two legs, scientists are now looking to chimpanzees living in dry, open savannah-like environments for clues. A new study ...
July 15, 2025 — High in Fiji s rainforest, the ant plant Squamellaria grows swollen tubers packed with sealed, single-door apartments. Rival ant species nest in these chambers, fertilizing their host with ...
July 11, 2025 — In a bold step toward sustainable space travel, scientists are engineering a radically small, protein-rich rice that can grow in space. The Moon-Rice project, led by the Italian Space Agency in ...
July 8, 2025 — Scientists at MIT have turbocharged one of nature’s most sluggish but essential enzymes—rubisco—by applying a cutting-edge evolution technique in living cells. Normally prone to wasteful ...
June 25, 2025 — Leafcutter ants live in highly organized colonies where every ant has a job, and now researchers can flip those jobs like a switch. By manipulating just two neuropeptides, scientists can turn ...
June 19, 2025 — During Earth's ancient Snowball periods, when the entire planet was wrapped in ice, life may have endured in tiny meltwater ponds on the surface of ...
Earlier Headlines
June 17, 2025 — Beetles that can see the color red? That s exactly what scientists discovered in two Mediterranean species that defy the norm of insect vision. While most insects are blind to red, these beetles use ...
June 14, 2025 — Ten thousand years after mastodons disappeared, scientists have unearthed powerful fossil evidence proving these elephant cousins were vital seed spreaders for large-fruited trees in South America. ...
June 10, 2025 — A prehistoric digestive time capsule has been unearthed in Australia: plant fossils found inside a sauropod dinosaur offer the first definitive glimpse into what these giant creatures actually ate. ...
June 10, 2025 — After millions of years of evolutionary isolation, Madagascar developed an unparalleled array of wildlife, and recent research has uncovered an unsung ecological hero: the lizard. Though often ...
June 6, 2025 — Scientists have discovered that a molecule known for defending animal immune systems called itaconate also plays a powerful role in plants. Researchers showed that itaconate not only exists in plant ...
June 6, 2025 — Scientists have uncovered over 200 new giant viruses lurking in ocean waters that not only help shape marine ecosystems but also manipulate photosynthesis in algae. These massive viruses once nearly ...
June 3, 2025 — The biosynthesis of the great variety of natural plant products has not yet been elucidated for many medically interesting substances. In a new study, an international team of researchers was able to ...
June 2, 2025 — Making a discovery with the potential for innovative applications in pharmaceutical development, a microbiology student has found a long sought-after fungus that produces effects similar to the ...
June 2, 2025 — California Central Valley, which is known for the agriculture that produces much of the nation's fruits, vegetables and nuts, is a major contributor to a growing dust problem that has profound ...
June 2, 2025 — New research shows that the presence of solar panels in Colorado's grasslands may reduce water stress, improve soil moisture levels and -- particularly during dry years -- increase plant growth ...
May 30, 2025 — Laboratory could improve crop resilience In a discovery three decades in the making, scientists have acquired detailed knowledge about the internal structures and mode of regulation for a specialized ...
May 30, 2025 — To achieve the European Green Deal's goal of 25% organic agriculture by 2030, researchers argue that new genomic techniques (NGTs) should be allowed without pre-market authorization in organic ...
May 29, 2025 — A new study reveals that the aerobic nitrogen cycle in the ocean may have occurred about 100 million years before oxygen began to significantly accumulate in the atmosphere, based on nitrogen isotope ...
May 29, 2025 — A professor of crop sciences and of plant biology describes research efforts to 'future-proof' the crops that are essential to feeding a hungry world in a changing climate. Long, who has ...
May 29, 2025 — Scientists have pioneered a new way to breed climate-resilient crops faster by combining plant genebank data with climate and DNA analysis. The method, tested on sorghum, could speed up global ...
May 29, 2025 — Replanting forests can help cool the planet even more than some scientists once believed, especially in the tropics. But even if every tree lost since the mid-19th century is replanted, the total ...
May 29, 2025 — Scientists analyzed almost 200 cannabis genomes to create the most comprehensive, high-quality, detailed genetic atlas of the plant to date. The atlas reveals unprecedented diversity and complexity ...
May 29, 2025 — Forest-based agroforestry can restore forests, promote livelihoods, and combat climate change, but emerging agroforestry initiatives focusing only on tree planting is leading to missed opportunities ...
May 28, 2025 — A study finds small-scale tree cover in Costa Rica boosts biodiversity while limiting dangerous mosquito ...
May 28, 2025 — A new study shows that planting too much genetically modified corn designed to fight off a tough insect -- the corn rootworm -- especially in the eastern U.S. Corn Belt states may be causing more ...
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Saturday, June 14, 2025
Tuesday, June 10, 2025
- What a Dinosaur Ate 100 Million Years ago—Preserved in a Fossilized Time Capsule
- How Madagascar’s Lizards Became the Island’s Last Hope for Reforestation
Friday, June 6, 2025
- Scientists Find Immune Molecule That Supercharges Plant Growth
- Scientists Uncover 230 Giant Ocean Viruses That Hijack Photosynthesis
Tuesday, June 3, 2025
Monday, June 2, 2025
- Student Discovers Long-Awaited Mystery Fungus Sought by LSD's Inventor
- Human-Caused Dust Events Are Linked to Fallow Farmland
- Research Shows How Solar Arrays Can Aid Grasslands During Drought
Friday, May 30, 2025
- Scientists Find a New Way to Help Plants Fight Diseases
- The EU Should Allow Gene Editing to Make Organic Farming More Sustainable, Researchers Say
Thursday, May 29, 2025
- Rock Record Illuminates Oxygen History
- 'Future-Proofing' Crops Will Require Urgent, Consistent Effort
- Living Libraries Could Save Our Food
- Does Planting Trees Really Help Cool the Planet?
- Cannabis Pangenome Reveals Potential for Medicinal and Industrial Use
- Agriculture in Forests Can Provide Climate and Economic Dividends
Wednesday, May 28, 2025
- Trees Vs. Disease: Tree Cover Reduces Mosquito-Borne Health Risk
- Too Much of a Good Thing: Consequences of Overplanting Bt Corn in the US
- Synthetic Molecular Rings Re-Create Energy Flow Found in Plants
- New Velvet Worm Species a First for the Arid Karoo
- When the Forest Is No Longer a Home -- Forest Bats Seek Refuge in Settlements
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Monday, May 26, 2025
- A Root Development Gene That's Older Than Root Development
- Flowers Unfold With Surprising Precision, Despite Unruly Genes
Friday, May 23, 2025
Thursday, May 22, 2025
- New Study Reveals How Competition Between Algae Is Transforming the Gulf of Maine
- Scientists Have Figured out How Extinct Giant Ground Sloths Got So Big and Where It All Went Wrong
- Ox-Eye Daisy, Bellis and Yarrow: Flower Strips With at Least Two Sown Species Provide 70 Percent More Natural Enemies of Pests
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
- Plant Cell Sculptors
- Can Plants Hear Their Pollinators?
- How Hibiscus Flowers Lost Their Bullseyes
- A New Technology for Extending the Shelf Life of Produce
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
- On the Origin (and Fate) of Plants That Never Bloom
- Forest Management Can Influence Health Benefits
- Wild Spinach Offers Path to Breed Disease Resistance Into Cultivated Varieties
- Research Team Traces Evolutionary History of Bacterial Circadian Clock on Ancient Earth
Monday, May 19, 2025
- Bees Facing New Threats, Putting Our Survival and Theirs at Risk
- Cover Crops May Not Be Solution for Both Crop Yield, Carbon Sequestration
- First-of-Its-Kind Global Study Shows Grasslands Can Withstand Climate Extremes With a Boost of Nutrients
- Scientific Breakthrough: We Can Now Halve the Price of Costly Cancer Drug
- How Did Plants Evolve the Ability to Transport Massive Amounts of Protein Into Seed Vacuoles?
- Capuchin Monkeys Develop Bizarre 'fad' Of Abducting Baby Howlers
Friday, May 16, 2025
- Light-to-Electricity Nanodevice Reveals How Earth's Oldest Surviving Cyanobacteria Worked
- In Healthy Aging, Carb Quality Counts
Thursday, May 15, 2025
- School Dinners May Encourage Picky Teenagers to Eat Better, Says New Study
- Amazon Could Survive Long-Term Drought but at a High Cost
- Dual Associations With Two Fungi Improve Tree Fitness
- Human Activity Reduces Plant Diversity Hundreds of Kilometers Away
- Scientists Use Fossils to Assess the Health of Florida's Largest Remaining Seagrass Bed: Surprisingly, It's Doing Well!
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
- Artificial Intelligence and Genetics Can Help Farmers Grow Corn With Less Fertilizer
- Europe's Forest Plants Thrive Best in Light-Rich, Semi-Open Woodlands -- Kept Open by Large Herbivores
- Australia's Oldest Prehistoric Tree Frog Hops 22 Million Years Back in Time
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
- With AI, Researchers Predict the Location of Virtually Any Protein Within a Human Cell
- Growth Before Photosynthesis: How Trees Regulate Their Water Balance
Monday, May 12, 2025
- Invasive Salmon, Clams and Seaweed Are Next Threats to Biodiversity in Britain
- Microbial 'phosphorus Gatekeeping' Found at Center of Study Exploring 700,000 Years of Iconic Coastline
Friday, May 9, 2025
Thursday, May 8, 2025
- Researchers Find New Defense Against Hard-to-Treat Plant Diseases
- Just 30 Species of Tree Dominate World's Most Diverse Savanna
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
- Biologists Create a One-Stop Shop for World's Most Charismatic Plants, Ferns
- Fewer Parasites in the Indian River Lagoon Signal Big Ecosystem Problems
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
- Replanted Rainforests May Benefit from Termite Transplants
- Food as Medicine: How Diet Shapes Gut Microbiome Health
- How Hunting Harriers Home in on Their Prey
Monday, May 5, 2025
- How Are They Biting? High Speed Video Reveals Unexpected Jaw Movements in Reef Fish
- A Fully Automated Tool for Species Tree Inference
- Vertical Farming to Increase Yields and Reduce Environmental Impact
- Artificial Oxygen Supply in Coastal Waters: A Hope With Risks
- Blue Tips Are Red Algae's Red Flags
Friday, May 2, 2025
- Traditional Forest Medicinal Plant Ghost Pipe Used Differently Today
- Loss of Sea Ice Alters the Colors of Light in the Ocean
Thursday, May 1, 2025
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
- New Study Unlocks How Root Cells Sense and Adapt to Soil
- Bacterial Villain Behind Lake Erie's 'potent Toxin' Unveiled
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
- Forest in Sync: Spruce Trees May Communicate During a Solar Eclipse
- Will the Vegetables of the Future Be Fortified Using Tiny Needles?
Monday, April 28, 2025
- New Pests and Diseases Will Cut UK Tree Growth
- New Pangenome Analysis Uncovers Genetic Key to Larger Peanut Yields
- Want to Understand Grasslands? Look at the Bigger Picture
- How Math Helps to Protect Crops from Invasive Disease
- Flower Strips Could Save Apple Farmers Pest Control Costs
Friday, April 25, 2025
- Less Intensive Farming Works Best for Agricultural Soil
- 'Cryosphere Meltdown' Will Impact Arctic Marine Carbon Cycles and Ecosystems, New Study Warns
Thursday, April 24, 2025
- Controlling Starch Levels in Algae Could Have Biotechnology and Sustainability Benefits
- New Approach Makes AI Adaptable for Computer Vision in Crop Breeding
- Invasive Weed Threatens Southern California's Deserts
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
- Newborns Living Near Trees Tend to Be Healthier: New Data Suggests It's Not Because Healthier People Reside Near Parks
- Toxic Blooms in Motion: Researchers Map Algae Patterns in Lake Okeechobee, Florida
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Monday, April 21, 2025
- How Bacteria Use Sneaky Chemistry to Disable Plant Defenses
- Microplastics: What's Trapping the Emerging Threat in Our Streams?
- Introduced Trees Are Becoming More Common in the Eastern United States, While Native Diversity Declines
- Should Farm Fields Be Used for Crops or Solar? Or Both
Friday, April 18, 2025
- Unlocking the Genetic Basis of Adaptive Evolution: Study Reveals Complex Chromosomal Rearrangements in a Stick Insect
- Disrupting 'communication' With Plants Could Limit Soybean Cyst Nematode Infections
Thursday, April 17, 2025
- A New Record for California's Highest Tree
- Sugar-Mimicking Molecule Central to Virulence of a Common Crop Disease