Synopsis: Plants:


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And so if we notice it at all we see that purple loosestrife is kind of pretty. Zebra mussels remain underwater

and closely related trees are slow-growing evergreens that live for hundreds of years and can grow to 150 feet tall.

Although most of us may not be able to name them we recognize their deep-green branches as they are commonly found in parks nature preserves and other protected natural areas.

In the short term the opening in the forest floor may prove to be an easy conquest for Japanese honeysuckle


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and venom help males compete for mates according to the Australian Platypus Conservatory. The venom is not life threatening to humans

1. 4 kg) though platypuses that live in colder climates are bigger than those living in warmer areas according to the Australian Platypus Conservatory.

Platypuses also live under rock ledges roots or debris. Though they exist on only one side of one continent platypuses weather many climate extremes.


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The scientists grew the oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus on a substance made from used diapers and were able to reduce the diaper's weight and volume by up to 80 percent according to a news statement.

(Or So) Ways Fungi Can Help Humanity Diapers contain the plant-based material cellulose which mushrooms consume

To grow the fungus the researchers only used diapers that contained liquid waste. They sterilized the garments in an autoclave a device that subjects them to high-pressure steam.

The researchers also used commercially available fungus spores grown on wheat or sorghum which they spread on the diaper mixture.

They also determined that these mushrooms had similar amounts of protein fat vitamins and minerals as commercial yeast.

and giving the fungi room to develop the researchers said. The plastic materials could later be recycled


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Instead the models suggest that carbon dioxide rose about 40 ppm to 285 ppm and methane jumped to 790 ppb a 345 ppb rise as early humans chopped down trees


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#Woolly mammoths and Rhinos Ate Flowers Woolly mammoths rhinos and other ice age beasts may have munched on high-protein wildflowers called forbs new research suggests.

And far from living in a monotonous grassland the mega-beasts inhabited a colorful Arctic landscape filled with flowering plants and diverse vegetation the study researchers found.

It makes us rethink how the vegetation looked and how those animals thrived on the landscape.

But recreations of the ancient Arctic vegetation relied on fossilized pollen found in permafrost or frozen soil.

Because grasses and sedges tend to produce more pollen than other plants those analyses produced a biased picture of the landscape.

The DNA analysis showed that the Arctic at the time had varied a landscape filled with wildflowers grasses and other vegetation.

Vanishing wildflowers Between 10000 and 15000 years ago forbs declined in the Arctic study co-author Mary E. Edwards a physical geographer at the University of Southampton in England wrote in an email.

and shrubs to flourish and these would have outgrown forbs by shading them for example Edwards said.


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but rather by something else such as the availability of the flower nectar they feed on study lead author Michael Dillon who now works at the University of Wyoming told Live Science.


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The grubs are harvested from underground where they feed upon the roots of Australian trees such as eucalyptus and black wattle trees.</

Dazzling Photos of Dew-Covered Insects</a p><p>A delicacy among many African tribes the palm weevil(<em>Rhychophorus phoenicis</em>)is collected off the trunks of palm trees.


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But late in 2013 severe rains in central Mexico knocked the blossoms off many lime trees greatly limiting this spring's crop.


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During warm months rabbits will nibble on herbs peas grasses clover lettuce and greens. In the winter months they eat twigs bark and buds.

While originally from Europe and Africa rabbits now call many places home. Domestic rabbits need a regulated environment to protect against heat exhaustion or hypothermia.


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#Fossils of Dinosaur-Era Forest fire Discovered in Canada In the badlands of southern Saskatchewan Canada scientists discovered evidence of a 66-million-year-old forest fire locked in stone.


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60.44 Chive: 54.80 Kale: 49.07 Dandelion greens: 46.34 Red pepper: 41.26 Arugula: 37.65 Broccoli: 34.89 Pumpkin: 33.82 Brussels spouts:

32.23 Scallions: 27.35 Kohirabi: 25.92 Cauliflower: 25.13 Cabbage: 24.51 Carrot: 22.60 Tomato: 20.37 Lemon: 18.72 Iceberg lettuce:


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But tule fog is also crucial to the Central Valley's fruit and nut crop


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Any food labeled gluten-free cannot contain wheat rye barley or any of their crossbreeds unless the grains are stripped first of gluten.

Gluten is made of natural proteins found in wheat rye and barley. Until now there was no gold standard for


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but they are actually omnivores they eat meat and vegetation. They eat small game such as rodents rabbits fish and frogs and larger game like deer.


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Arabidopsis a small flowering plant that is closely genetically related to C. canephora has only one gene for linoleic acid.

This memory boost makes them more likely to remember flowers that contain this habit-forming substance and return there for nectar.


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As a result nymphs congregate in leaf piles in shady humid environments so sticking to sunny areas can reduce tick exposure he said. 4. Change the landscape Most ticks around homes stay within a few yards of the interface between the yard

People should also remove tick habitat such as leaf piles shrubs and groundcover near the house.


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I often collect animals by pinning them to a tree trunk with two fingers and then using my thumb underneath their bodies to pull them off of the tree.

Goblin sharks live in the deep ocean more than 200 meters 660 feet down where they would never encounter a human said Chip Cotton a fisheries ecologist at Florida State university.

Cotton notes that goblin sharks are also slow swimmers with soft flabby bodies and that while the jaws look menacing they're designed to snag squid not people.

but that's probably about the extent of damage a goblin shark could do to a human Cotton said.

The worst that they do is sometimes eat people's coconuts or sugar cane. See more images of aye-ayes Aye-ayes are extraordinary examples of evolution at its weirdest

They chisel a hole into the bark to reach inside with their thin flexible middle finger and extract beetle larvae.

The only bad luck they bring is to grubs hiding beneath the bark of a tree.


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It has compound leaves meaning a single leaf stalk contains a number of smaller leaflets. The honey locust leaflets are quite small about 0. 3 to 1. 5 inches long and 0. 2 to 0. 5 inches wide.

The tree can have 15 to 30 of these leaflets per stalk according to Utah State university.

In the fall these leaves turn from green to golden yellow. When this tree is covered in these tiny yellow leaves you can guess how it got its common name.

Fall Foliage: Why Leaves Change Color Baldcypress In the summer the baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) looks like an evergreen tree#that is it has green needlelike leaves

Apple trees plum trees and hawthorn trees which produce small red berries all have fruit that is ripe in the fall according to the BBC.


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because their lifespan can be hundreds of times longer than the average leaf-eater which is usually a small insect.

Most convincingly closely related trees and shrubs have diverged often defences which is a sign of exploring biotic interaction niches


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borer larvae living under the bark of ash trees the USDA wrote today in a Facebook post.

However temperatures under the tree bark could be two to seven degrees warmer than the air University of Minnesota ecologist Lee Frelich told Minnesota Public Radio.

Despite the insulating effects of bark There is a large area in northern MN that has a lot of ash trees that experiences temperatures cold enough to greatly limit the survival


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The mossy plants that depended on spores for reproduction were being replaced by the first seed-bearing plants the gymnosperms.

Gymnosperms are vascular plants able to transport water internally. Gymnosperms have exposed seeds that develop on the scales of cones

and are fertilized when pollen sifts down and lands directly on the seed. Today s conifers are gymnosperms as are the short palm like cycads and the gingko.

Arthropods continued to diversify during the Permian period to fill the niches opened up by the more variable climate.

True bugs with mouthparts modified for piercing and sucking plant materials evolved during the Permian. Other new groups included the cicadas and beetles.

but instead are filled with fossil remnants of fungi that probably proliferated on a glut of decaying trees.


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Stunning Photos of the Amazon According to MODIS algorithms an area is covered likely in green vegetation

That makes it appear very green according to satellite vegetation algorithms though in reality the forest canopy hasn't actually greened the study found.


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It carries this protection with it as it traverses the entire country from the forests of Mexico to the wildflowers of Texas through the prairies of the Midwest and back again.

This change in our agricultural system has led to the near extermination of milkweed from huge swaths of our country.

Scientists now estimate that in the span of about 10 years (from 1999-2010) there has been a 60 percent decline in milkweeds across the Midwest (in both agricultural and nonagricultural areas) and an 80 percent decline in monarchs in the Midwest.

However given that the widespread adoption of Round up Ready crops has eliminated largely the monarch's most essential habitat by removing milkweeds from the landscape it's time to reconsider


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At a farmer's market you're more likely to find produce that is picked fresh from the vine possibly even that morning.


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Grasshoppers with a Side of Fungi (Op-Ed) Doug Turnbull is a hard-science-fiction writer.

Greens sprouts and even seaweed may help create a balanced diet. Indeed astronauts have grown successfully peas

In addition to providing a food source greenery offers the added benefits of converting carbon dioxide exhaled by settlers into oxygen essential for maintaining a long-term bio-regenerative life support system.

Fungi specifically mushrooms are excellent low-maintenance food sources that require little or no light.

The fungi could grow in compost created using waste material from other agricultural processes as well as sanitary waste.

Scientists have synthesized successfully meat using a 3d printer to align stem cells from animals in laboratory Petri dishes creating both hamburger


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Along the way she encountered 5500-year-old Antarctic moss 80000-year-old aspen colonies and 100000-year-old underwater meadows of sea grass.


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A patient's own stem cells could be used to make the mini heart decreasing the chances of tissue rejection researchers say.</


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Myers group included crop scientists around the world who were conducting FACE experiments on 41 different genetic strains or cultivars#of grains and legumes over three continents.

When the team analyzed their data the results showed a significant decrease in the concentrations of zinc and iron as well as protein in wheat and rice cultivars.


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because it makes up part of the backbone of DNA you can t make DNA without phosphorus. We get our phosphorus by eating plants that have drawn up phosphorus through their roots or by eating animals that ate the plants (or from expensive tablets).


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But our nation must also tackle this crisis at its root: We must reduce the pollution that causes climate change.


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and more evergreens the researchers report today (July 7) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.


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Excerpt from Traitor's Blade (Jo Fletcher Books 2014) an imprint of Quercus first published in the United states by Quercus July 2014 by Sebastien de Castell.


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The watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is related to cucumbers pumpkins and squash. The watermelon probably originated in the Kalahari desert in Africa.

which is created by crossing male pollen for a watermelon containing 22 chromosomes per cell with a female watermelon flower with 44 chromosomes per cell.

When this seeded fruit matures the small white seed coats inside contain 33 chromosomes rendering it sterile and incapable of producing seeds. i


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In high-school I identified poor nutrition as a problem this was my trunk. My overweight grandmother used to babysit me and

The symptoms or branches of my tree included the issues that my grandmother suffered with

and limited accessibility to information was at the root of the problem. My plan was to make dietary changes for myself and then help others so

To really address an issue you have to get to the root of it figure out what causes it


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In fact the peat soils in Southeast asia store as much carbon as all aboveground vegetation in the Amazon.


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With one clean stroke he sliced a fuzzy fern off the bark of a nearby palm tree carried it back to the hut

After less than a minute the shaman snatched the fern from the fire and applied it to the base of my foot causing

When both my foot and the fern had cooled however the pain had disappeared. He then threw the fern in another pot of water warmed it over the fire

and had me drink the entire potion. The pain in my foot went away. And for seven months there was no pain.

It seems to overlook the fact that many of the most important classes of prescription drugs like ACE inhibitors for high blood pressure (first developed from Brazilian snake venom) beta blockers (from hallucinogenic Mexican fungi)

and cholesterol-lowering statins (from Penicillium fungus) came from natural sources. And new finds continue to be made.


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and ferns and trees thrived in the Arctic. This is the height of global warming since the extinction of the dinosaurs so it's the time interval that people look at a lot for trying to understand global warming today Eberles said.


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Gallery of Spooky Bats Most bats eat flowers small insects fruits nectar pollen and leaves though it depends on the type of bat.

A fungus that causes a disease called white-nose syndrome has devastated bats in North america. This white powdery-looking fungus a member of a group of cold-loving fungi calledgeomyces coats the muzzles ears

and wings of bats and has meant death for hundreds of thousands of the animals in the northeastern United states. Related Devastating Disease Found in Endangered Gray Bats Bats see using echolocation.


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See Photos of the Stunning Cave Art from Indonesia Sulawesi caves The paintings were found in the karst caves of Sulawesi an island just east of Borneo with four long peninsulas that radiate like flower petals.


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the so-called fern spike revealed by a massive increase in fossil fern pollen just after the impact.

Ferns are one of the few plants that tolerate ground saturated in acidic water the researchers said.


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and the identification of fossilized leaf fragments we know that their habitat at the Tar pits was at a much lower elevation during the Ice age said Anna Holden an entomologist at the Natural history Museum of Los angeles County (NHM)

To reproduce females build small cylindrical nest cells made of carefully chosen leaves and sometimes flower petals.

The bees build these multilayered nest cells in secure locations near the ground such as under the bark of dead trees in stems

which is glued together with saliva and leaf sap; at the other end of the cell is made a cap of layered circular discs.

and their vegetative components such as the lack of flower petals and the type of leaves included further constrained the species list.

Leaf matter used to construct the nest cells likely came from trees not far from the nest site suggesting the La Brea Tar pits had a nearby forest possibly containing streams or a river.


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#Kansas Grass Fires Seen from Space A new satellite image shows grass fires scattered like seeds across the Kansas prairie.

The Native americans who once hunted this region lit fires to burn off dead vegetation encouraging new growth that attracted bison and other large game.

About 80 percent of prairie vegetation is grass (40 to 60 species) with the remainder made up of more than 300 species of wildflowers plus trees scrubs and lichens according to Live Science's Our Amazing Planet.

The roots of these plants form tangles deep in the prairie sod enabling early settlers to cut bricks from the soil.


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Francisquito Creek California 6. South Fork Edisto River South carolina 7. White river Colorado 8. White river Washington 9. Haw River North carolina 10.


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</p><p>The Haw River is in north-central North carolina and flows into the Cape Fear River

The Environmental protection agency (EPA) required the state to develop a plan to clean up the Haw but the state government has passed laws stalling the plan.</

because dark-colored tannins from vegetation dye the water nearly black. Endangered Atlantic sturgeon and shortnose sturgeon call the river home.</


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The fruit is made actually of many individual flowers whose fruitlets fuse together around a central core.

Each pineapple scale is an individual fruitlet. Pineapples nutritional benefits are as fascinating as their anatomy The fruit s wide-ranging benefits include immune system support protein digestion and bone strength.

It can even help relieve symptoms of the common cold. In addition to the vitamins and minerals listed above pineapples also contain smaller amounts of B vitamins calcium zinc Vitamin a and beta-carotene.


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In combination with Gum arabic (hardened sap obtained from the acacia tree) it can also delay the ripening of bananas.

Gum arabic can also be used on its own to enhance the shelf life and postharvest quality of tomatoes.


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Inflammation Some people think potatoes and other members of the nightshade family such as eggplants tomatoes and peppers trigger arthritis flares.

The organization suggests that people with arthritis try cutting nightshade vegetables from their diets for two weeks to see

Potato stems branches leaves and fruits are toxic containing alkaloids such as arsenic chaconine and solanine.

Like tomatoes eggplants and peppers potatoes are members of the nightshade family. They are not root vegetables;

potatoes are swollen actually the part of the stem of the perennial Solanum tuberosum. This part of the plant is called a tuber

which functions to provide food to the leafy part of the plant. The eyes of potatoes are buds

although today most vodka is produced using fermented grains such as corn wheat or rye. According to Guinness World records the largest potato grown was 7 lbs. 1 ounce (3. 2 kg.

In the 1840s an outbreak of potato blight swept through Europe and wiped out the potato crop in many countries.


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They decompose dead organic matter through a process called mineralisation releasing mineral nutrients that plants absorb through their roots allowing the forest to grow.


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#Fossils of Ancient Australasian Trees Found in Patagonia In Patagonia at the southern end of South america scientists have discovered 52.2-million-year-old fossils of a giant evergreen tree that now is only found thousands

Coniferous trees in the Genus agathis which are sought after for their soft wood have thick trunks and can grow up to 200 feet (60 meters) tall.

But the discovery of fossilized Agathis leaves branches and cones in the rich deposits at Argentina's Laguna del Hunco suggests the tree covered much more ground in prehistoric times.

The layers of volanic ash and lake sediments at Laguna del Hunco have turned up some other amazing ancient plants including a fossilized tomatillo and the remains of eucalyptus buds and flowers.


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just as strong as climate in controlling where vegetation does and doesn't appear in the Sierra nevada said Jesse Hahm a geologist at the University of Wyoming

The Goldilocks zone inhabited by western Sierra forests is predicted to move to higher elevations in the coming centuries as climate change shifts California's temperature and precipitation bands.


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To determine that tree-ring data was an accurate representation of grassland productivity the researchers compared their tree-rings to satellite data of vegetation covering Mongolia between 1980 and 2010.


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which can inflict painful stings around the eyes and trunks of elephants. A powerful swarm of bees could even kill a thin-skinned calf.


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Dry conditions exacerbated the forest fire over the weekend according to Inciweb. Although it's early June the large logs


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The idea is to reduce the intensity of subsequent fires at the same place by removing fine surface fuels such as leaf litter.

The technique can only be applied to open flammable vegetation. In dense eucalypt forests (such as wet sclerophyll forests) fuel-reduction burning is impractical because of the risk of uncontrollable fires sustained by heavy fuel loads that only become flammable in dry conditions.

For example with extreme heat and winds eucalypt crowns can catch on fire regardless of the amount of leaf litter and surface fuel.

In Victoria for instance the 5%fuel-reduction target means a given area of bush will be burnt every 20 years.

It must be acknowledged that such targeted burning is expensive to carry out safely given the need for engagement with numerous stakeholders (private land owners councils various branches of government.

and thinning vegetation including burning the debris in specially designed portable furnaces that have low smoke emissions.

These include fire-sensitive plants habitat for endangered wildlife and areas recovering from a previous high-severity fire.


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As nocturnal hunters both Phoneutria and Cupiennius sometimes seek out shelter during the day under the broad leaves of banana trees.


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In higher latitudes gymnosperms survived and conifer forests began to recover from the Permian Extinction.

Mosses and ferns survived in coastal regions. Spiders scorpions millipedes and centipedes survived as well as the newer groups of beetles.


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New research finds that yikes crocodiles can climb trees even reaching the uppermost branches. Four species found on three continents showed this behavior

In Australia they observed freshwater crocodiles basking on low-hanging branches day and night. When approached by boats the crocs splashed into the water below to escape.

In The americas Dinets observed crocs as long as 3 feet (1 m) sunning themselves on mangrove roots and branches.

To get there it would have had to scale a 13-foot-tall (4 m) vertical bank and then crawl 13 feet (4 m) out on a sloping branch.

The largest tree-climber observed was a Nile crocodile 6. 5 feet (2 m) seen basking a foot and a half (0. 5 m) above water on a fallen branch in Botswana.


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The unusual wetness in a typically arid region would have lead to carpets of greenery perfect food for the half dozen


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and like to hide under rotting bark logs and rocks during the day. They enjoy man-made habitats too such as woodlots abandoned buildings and barns.

She lays them in rotting stumps piles of decaying vegetation or other places where there will be enough heat


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Brewers used the yeast available in the air. Brandy and schnapps are also favorite German alcoholic beverages. Germans have made tremendous contributions to classical music


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Microscopic fungi called yeast turn the naturally occurring sugar in fruit into a chemical known as ethanol

It's not just Napa vineyards and drunks on the street. There is actually a much broader natural background of alcohol production within fruit


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One of these considers the junction where the branch of a tree meets the trunk.


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Enjoying a wide variety of vegetables fruits nuts seeds wholegrain cereals legumes low-fat dairy lean meat


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Molds are fungi. They re related to mushrooms and the yeasts we use to make bread

or convert sugars to alcohol. They are heterotrophs meaning they can t make their own food (unlike plants.

and collectively form a complex matrix called a mycelium that when big enough can be seen with an unaided eye.

The extent of spread of the mycelium is not always visible however and herein lies the problem.

Among those we are likely to encounter on foods in our homes are Penicillium(#oecousins#of those used to make antibiotics

or to ripen some cheeses) Aspergillus and on fruits Botrytis. You re unlikely to experience any immediate symptoms from ingestion of mycotoxin-contaminated foods.

Conversely a cheddar or a salami or carrot that have dense structure are less likely to have extensive hyphal growth away from the visible mycelium.

In these cases the mycelium can be cut away (to a centimetre or two depth) and the remaining food consumed with little risk.


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and colors from the age of two has pulled us away from our roots in creative play and the outdoors.

We took turns squishing the mud spreading it on the bark of a nearby tree

and sits down to get dirty idle in leaf piles and generally lead the way a little more often.


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which are eukaryotic pathogens related to fungi and RNA VIRUSES such as`Deformed Wing Virus'she adds. In some of our experiments we want to infect bees with pathogens to see


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Sea turtles depending on the species may eat seagrasses algae sponges sea squirts squid shrimp crabs jellyfish cuttlefish or sea cucumbers.

Green sea turles (Chelonia myadis) on the other hand are herbivores that feed on algae and seagrasses. A freshwater turtle's diet is varied

just as and may include worms snails insect larvae aquatic insects crustaceans water plants algae and fallen fruit.

Terrestrial turtles also eat a variety of foods from earthworms grubs snails beetles and caterpillars to grasses fruit berries mushrooms and flowers.


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