Biology News GotScience.Org

Does Habitat Fragmentation Affect Biodiversity?

May 9, 2019May 9, 2019 Science Connectedbiodiversity, conservation biology, edge effect, fragmentation, habitat

By Jacqueline Mattos (@mattosjacq) Most scientists used to believe that habitat fragmentation was a real threat to biodiversity, but some controversial ideas have made this a potential topic for further discussion. Iconic experiments in the Brazilian Amazon, for example, have shown the edge effects on the ability of small patches to retain species. Edge effects relate to the possible outcomes of having too much border on chopped forests, which creates a boundary between two habitats. Where there is deforestation, patches are the remaining pieces of natural vegetation among other human-affected…

Biology Botany Chemistry

Microbes Help Plants Survive Heavy Metal Stress

April 18, 2019April 18, 2019 Science Connectedheavy metals, microbes, soil contamination, soil fungi, soil microbes, soil microbiome

By Radhika Desikan When you hear the term heavy metal, what do you think of? Music or chemistry? Exposure to heavy metal music can cause stress in some humans. But what about chemical heavy metals? Are they good or bad for the environment and living organisms? In chemical terms, heavy metals are elements in earth’s crust that have a high density (weight), and they include zinc, copper, iron, silver, gold, arsenic, lead, and cobalt, to name a few. While trace amounts of heavy metals such as copper, iron, cobalt, and…

Anthropology Biology Botany Chemistry

Leaf Age Matters for Plant Survival

April 11, 2019April 3, 2019 Science Connectedbotany, leaf age, plant, plant age, plant communication

By Radhika Desikan Does age really matter? For us humans, age seems to be a very sensitive issue relevant to how we live our lives. And while it also matters to plants, it does so at a different level. Some of our tissues, like skin, have cells that are constantly dividing (to replace dead cells) and therefore differ in age, but what defines our age as an organism is not the life span of individual cells in our body, but rather the length of time that has passed since our…

Biology Biota Project Ecology

The Millions of Microbes Beneath our Feet

March 25, 2019March 26, 2019 Science Connectedfungi, microbes, microbiome, soil fungi, soil microbiome

By Nicholas Dove (@nicholascdove), for The Biota Project Microorganisms are everywhere on planet earth—on every surface, in the air, in the ground, and inside you. The good news is that many of these benefit you. Recent findings have shown that having a healthy gut microbiome (community of microorganisms) is important for proper digestion and even disease prevention (Penicillin is an antibacterial fungus that is used to treat many types of infections). Similarly, having a healthy soil microbiome is important to support plants and properly functioning ecosystems. Soil microbes play a…

Biology Botany

Plants Communicate with Neighbors in Response to Touch

March 14, 2019March 14, 2019 Science Connectedcommunication, plant communication, plants, senses, volatile compounds, volatiles

By Radhika Desikan How well do you and your neighbour know each other? Chances are, very little these days. But some living things, including plants, know their neighbours well. According to new research, it appears that what one plant “feels” can also be sensed by its neighbouring plant. Isn’t that remarkable? It is a fact of life that plants do not move from one place to another. Therefore plants, unlike humans, cannot move away from any impending danger, be it a herbivore, a disease-causing microbe, or even the cold and…

Biology Botany Chemistry

To Grow or Not to Grow? Bacteria Make Seeds Think!

February 7, 2019February 22, 2019 Science Connectedbacteria, germination, growth, plants, seeds

By Radhika Desikan A seed is the beginning of new life for most flowering plants. It has all the potential to develop into a new plant, with its own stored food used for germination (the sprouting of a seed). However, if you have done any gardening, you might know that not all seeds always germinate. Whether or not a seed grows into a plant is determined by a number of factors, such as the presence of oxygen, water, and the right temperature. Seeds have a remarkable ability to detect whether…

Biology

Do We Really Need Fertilizers To Grow Crops?

January 24, 2019January 17, 2019 Science Connectedagriculture, crops, fertilizers, maize, photosynthesis, plants

By Radhika Desikan We all learn that plants can make their own food via a complex process called photosynthesis. However, to make their food, and to grow properly, plants need nutrients (chemicals) such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and calcium from the soil. Although these chemicals are naturally present in most soils, years of intensive farming have depleted soils of these nutrients. As a result, humans have resorted to using artificial fertilizers, which are basically synthetic nutrients manufactured through a process that uses a lot of energy, and produces a lot…

Biology Genetics

Did Life On Earth Start as an RNA World?

January 10, 2019January 9, 2019 Science Connecteddna, evolution, human dna, origin of life, RNA, RNA world hypothesis

By Emily Bentley You might not speak Latin, but you probably understand the concept of omnis cellula e cellula—all cells come from other cells. For several thousand years, many scholars endorsed the idea of spontaneous generation, which held that certain plants and animals are created whole from inorganic matter like dust, mud, or rotting meat. In 1668 this notion was disproved by Italian physician and biologist Francesco Redi. His experiments showed that maggots appeared only on meat that had been exposed to egg-laying flies, providing some of the first evidence…

Astronomy Biology Botany

Space Farming Is More Than Just Plants

December 13, 2018December 12, 2018 Science Connectedagriculture, experiments in space, life in space, space exploration, space farming

In a remarkable new study, scientists studied how plants can grow better in conditions that mimic microgravity in space. This study highlights the prospects of future sustainable space farming, …which may be the answer to long-term feeding of astronauts who need to survive in space.

Biology Genetics Health

Depression: In Our Genes or All In Our Heads?

November 27, 2018November 27, 2018 Science Connecteddepression, epigenetics, genes, genetics

By Mary McMillan (@maryemcmillan) World Health Organization estimated that more than 300 million people around the world are currently affected by depression. That’s just over 4 percent of the world’s population. Despite how serious this disorder is and the huge numbers of people that suffer from it, there is still a lot of stigma associated with having depression, and people often misunderstand what causes it (Jorm, 2000). You may have heard people say that depression is all in someone’s head and that they should just get over it. However, scientists…