#19 New Swift & Clever Praying mantises Discovered Swift deadly hunters lurk in the trees many camouflaged to look like lichen or bark.
Svenson discovered the new mantises part of a group called bark mantises in museum collections and in tropical forests.
or development encroached on habitat. 6 Strange Species Discovered in Museums Neotropical bark mantises live on tree branches
and tree trunks Svenson said. They're fleet of foot dashing around tree trunks like lizards when spotted.
The mantises have flattened mottled bodies that mimic bark moss lichen or dead leaves. They fly poorly so their last line of escape is to leap to the ground
and blend in with the detritus on the forest floor. The 19 newfound species triple the previously known diversity of this group.
The domes of Saint Basil's Cathedral one of the prime examples of onion domes have not been altered since the 16th century.
but new bulbs do a better job of mimicking the sun. The lights use less electricity
Canadian researchers mapped the genome of the common strain Cannabis sativa in 2011. Now the Cannabis Genomic Research Initiative led by ecologist Nolan Kane of the University of Colorado at Boulder seeks to sample DNA from multiple cannabis species. Pot's future This genetic innovation has some cannabis users
Patented seeds represent a hot topic in agriculture because they are sold under the agreement that farmers will not save
and replant seeds from the resulting plants. Companies like seed producer Monsanto sometimes sue farmers who violate these agreements.
High up in the forest canopy the animals interlace strong stems and foliage into a basketweave creating a thick springy mattress that sinks in the middle.
Scientists have known that chimpanzees build these sleeping platforms since Jane Goodall famously studied the apes in Tanzania's Gombe Stream National park in the 1960s.
and more comfortable to sleep on than the branches of other local tree species which can have sparse protruding stems.
Ugandan ironwood might even keep bugs at bay. In a study published last year in the journal Primates Samson and Hunt found that mosquitos were less likely to congregate around C. alexandri
and leaf surface area and that they select species that provide the widest range of advantages including predator avoidance postural stability thermoregulation
because you know it's not true Mccaskill told Oz On his show Oz has called some herbal weight-loss products the magic weight-loss cure and the No. 1 miracle in a bottle.
Irvingia or African mango extract is touted another product for weight loss that Oz has talked about on his show.
(and sometimes kill) and trade restrictions due to unsafe meat perhaps it's time to start looking at the root of the problem.
and carpeted in corn stalks and soybean rows. Farmers here know that sooner or later commodity prices fuel prices seed prices
since her all over the world to photograph everything from 3000-year-old lichen to a 9550-year-old spruce to an 80000-year-old colony of aspen trees.
One example I like to give from the Oldest Living things series is the example of the map lichens in Greenland.
so learning that there's 5500-year-old moss on Antarctica was a big surprise. A lot of these organisms live in very extreme environments all sorts of places where we think life shouldn't survive let alone thrive.
and in the past 50 got this spindly trunk in the center because it got warmer at the top of this mountainside there's something that's a very literal depiction of climate change happening right in front of you.
when I was looking at a clonal desert shrub in the Mojave and then talking to another botanist in South africa about a different but similar clonal desert shrub and the two had heard never of each other or their work.
And I said You guys should talk. So sometimes it's just that kind of networking.
Those lichens from Greenland that I had mentioned earlier were sent to outer space not so long ago and were exposed to outer-space conditions.
The stromatolites and the lichens got me thinking about time and space and also philosophically where time and space start to slip
and a face in the rocky formations on Mars. In their brain-scanning study the scientists Jiangang Liu Jun Li Lu Feng Ling Li Jie Tian
By looking at a cross-section cut through the bark of a tree scientists can count up the rings
and red algae mollusks crustaceans and small fish according to Sea world. Their tendency to eat both vegetation
According to the FLAME Act Report a congressionally mandated assessment of those expenditures putting out forest fires will cost the federal government $1. 6 billion before year-end.
Thanks to Fungus The U s. government leading scientists from around the world and a multibillion-dollar industry are teaming up to fight one of the biggest threats modern civilization has faced ever.
or climate change they're battling it's coffee rust a microscopic fungus that's wreaking havoc on coffee crops in Central america.
The fungus has already wiped out the arabica variety in places like Java in Indonesia which once produced much of the world's best coffee. 10 Things You Need to Know About Coffee We don't see an end in sight anytime soon Leonardo Lombardini of World Coffee Research a scientific endeavor of Texas A&m University
Also known as coffee leaf rust or Hemileia vastatrix the fungus spreads easily through the air on spores.
though some strict quarantine efforts have proven effective at minimizing the spread of the fungus.
In some areas coffee plantations have moved to higher altitudes where the fungus has difficulty reproducing.
when during the rainy season (the fungus spreads best in rainy weather). First discovered in East Africa in the 1800s coffee rust has a nasty legacy.
The fungus has now spread around the world and has been reported in Brazil Costa rica Panama Honduras and El salvador.
Coffee or (other) drugs In Central america the dry season of 2011-2012 was unusually wet allowing coffee rust to spread unfettered according to the BBC.
And the fungus has mutated now to a form that can thrive at higher altitudes placing those coffee plantations at risk.
Each spot looks like a rose and are called rosettes. Jaguars are the biggest cats in The americas and the third largest cats in the world.
The study researchers found snakes use a much greater force to grip tree trunks and other surfaces they're climbing than is necessary.
#These Adorable Fur Balls Survived a Raging Forest fire SACRAMENTO Calif. Johanna Varner thought a devastating forest fire meant the end of her pika research on Oregon's Mount Hood.
Varner is studying pikas in Oregon's Columbia river Gorge where this rabbit relative munches on moss instead of grass and flowers.
The trees and shrubs surrounding the Pinnacle Ridge talus slope were burned 100 percent meaning a high-temperature fire
Small mammals like pikas can't flee a forest fire like deer and Varner's research is the first evidence that sheltering in place helps the species endure a fire.
Pikas'future Forest fires are predicted to grow more frequent in the West in the next 50 years especially in areas where pikas live.
There are early hints that a vegetation threshold may exist Varner said meaning that pikas need a certain number of plants to maintain a population.
Tough growing conditions and rising demand are leading some coffee producers to mix in wheat soybean brown sugar rye barley acai seeds corn twigs and even dirt.
and grinding the beans it becomes impossible to spot any twigs berries or even dirt that blend in with the dark grounds.
The trees also have been suffering from white pine blister rust a disease accidentally introduced via imported seedlings nearly a century ago
which aims to improve various aspects of photosynthesis such as leaf structure and enzyme characteristics in order to boost yield.
These additives might also be modified genetically as in fact are 90 percent of the soy cotton canola corn
Use small test squares of white cotton or wool and experiment with different plant materials or even colored soils like yellow ochre or red clay.
I saw a young sheep run shoulder-first into a cactus and scream unrelentingly. Of course loud vocalizations could attract predators.
Debunk some pervasive perennial misunderstandings on cancer globally #When people think of cancer they usually think of rich people in rich nations.
Amazing'Fairy circles'of the Namib desert Fairy circles are barren patches typically surrounded by a ring of thriving vegetation.
But over the years vegetation thins in a self-regulating process so that mature trees have enough space
Fungi in the sloths'environment may be decomposing dead moths fostering the growth of algae. Or the moths may be directly transferring nutrients from the sloth dung to their fur where algae can grow.
It's a very tough epidemiological nut to break Baler said. Additionally researchers looking to study long-term marijuana use have had difficulty in finding people who regularly smoke marijuana
The period sometimes nicknamed the Big Freeze is technically known as the Younger Dryas. This era was not a glacial period often called an ice age but rather a cold time in the relatively warm spans between glacial periods.
and aquatic plants in the mud focusing on the levels of deuterium they possessed. Deuterium is an isotope of hydrogen its atoms each possess a single proton like regular hydrogen
On the other hand aquatic plants do not lose water via evaporation because they are surrounded by water so the ratio between heavy and regular water stays relatively unchanged in their systems.
The researchers discovered that about 170 years after temperatures fell in Europe land-plant remains had greater levels of deuterium than aquatic plant molecules did suggesting the environment became much drier.
In order to make agricultural waste into a suitable fuel for jet engines manufacturers would first need to break it down into sugars mixed with yeast
of Raphia which took place around 217 B c. in what is now the Gaza strip as part of the Syrian Wars.
And even now games such as Age of empires that recreate the Battle of Raphia depict the Ptolemaic elephants as smaller.
when sugar obtained from sugar cane beet and corn became very cheap to produce. It s a completely unnecessary part of our calorie intake:
Increased banditry illegal logging in national parks and nature reserves and a sharp increase in the hunting of lemurs as bush meat#has left them facing extinction.
and into the yard or garden you can still use some simple plant science experiments to sharpen your little ones interest in seeds and plants.
Identify which forms of produce are classified scientifically as fruits (the female parts of plants that have seeds) and
which are vegetables (edible roots leaves or stems). ) Use the information provided by the store to find out where the produce was grown
or juicy mesocarp (which is often the edible part of the fruit) and the seed. Ask the children why they think the fruit has these different layers.
Ask older children to count the number of seeds they find in each type of fruit.
and the number of seeds they counted. Help younger children compare the fruits by showing you
or smaller seeds whether the seeds are inside or outside of the fruit whether the seeds seem to be hard or soft.
Many children are surprised that the tiny black dots in bananas are actually the seeds; reassure timid youngsters that eating the seeds is perfectly okay.
Create a collection of seeds from different types of fruits and vegetable. What you will need:
What to do: Variation For younger children use one type of seed (I suggest the lima beans as they are large enough for little hands to grasp easily).
Instead of a jar put the seeds and paper towels into plastic bags with a zip closure.
Leave a small corner of the top open for air circulation. Prepare three seed bags.
Place one in the refrigerator; tape one to the inside of a sunny window and put one on a shelf inside the room.
Ask the children to predict which seeds will sprout first. Talk about the conditions that seeds need for germination.
Ask children what a plant needs to grow. Obtain several small flowerpots and a packet of fast-sprouting seeds (see suggestions above).
Plant seeds in several pots kept under different conditions and compare the growth of the plants.
Suggested conditions: Many seed packets instruct the gardener to sow the seeds and then thin out the seedlings to a given distance.
Have your child plant identical seeds in two different pots. In one pot plant the seeds the recommended distance apart
or thin the seedlings when they come up. In the second pot plant several seeds very close together
or allow the seedlings to grow without thinning. Keep the pots in a warm sunny location and keep the soil moist.
Observe how crowding affects the growing plants. Plants and gardening can provide endless opportunities for observation and experimentation.
Try some of these activities indoors. When the weather finally warms expand your observations to the great outdoors!
Related: Science Experiments for Kids Cool Science Experiments for Hot Summer Days Frozen Fun: Try These Cold-weather Science Experiment t
#Black mamba Facts The black mamba has quite a reputation. It is one of the world s deadliest snakes;
it is the fastest land snake in the world; and it is Africa s biggest poisonous snake.
They are known to drop from branches onto their prey below. All are solitary snakes. Jameson s mamba This is a slender snake that lives in trees
and colleagues assembled most of the sequence from part of a single pine nut#a haploid part of the seed with just one set of chromosomes to piece together.
and now that it's finally warming up trees are expected to bloom at the same time as grasses causing a dramatic rise in pollen allergy experts said.
Now scientists say they've found the hotspot where ancient farmers first cultivated Capsicum annuum the most common kind of chili pepper.
She noted the authors only have two data points for their map of archaeological evidence of Capsicum annum:
Hastorf also pointed out that the new research on Capsicum annuum fills in just one part of the history of domestication:
There are four other species of Capsicum that originated in South america and may have been domesticated much earlier than their Mesoamerican cousin.
They use their long claws to hang onto branches while they feast on the leaves that other animals can't reach.
They also like to sleep hanging by their claws from tree branches. For the most part a sloth's life revolves around sleeping
Males will fight for her by hanging from branches by their feet and pawing at each other.
To get to the rivers for a swim sloths will drop themselves off of branches into the water.
While much of the delta is choked with salt-loving tamarisk (an invasive salt cedar) now conservationists hope to see more riparian habitat growing after the pulse flow:
cottonwood and willow forests along with wetlands thick with cattail marshes. The flood was timed for the spring seed release from these trees to provide moist ground for seedlings.
After the flood ends a lower-level base flow will continue through 2017 to rehydrate several restoration sites in the delta.
and seeds but they also eat insects and bird eggs when they get the chance.
This means they only eat vegetation typically grasses leaves and shoots of plants. According to Endangered Wildlife and Plants of the World Volume 5 (Marshall Cavendish Corp. 2001) some gazelles can live their entire lives
Wine lovers might treasure the oaky full-bodied taste of a cabernet sauvignon or the light and fruity aroma of a pinot grigio.
Corks are made from the bark of Quercus suber trees commonly called cork oaks which grow only in southwest Europe and northwest Africa.
More and more low-quality cork trees with thin bark are sprouting up. 6 Unexpected Effects of Climate Change Now scientists think rising temperatures
and increased exposure to ultraviolet or UV light brought on by climate change may be behind chemical changes in the bark of cork oaks.
The change in bark quality may be the trees'way of adapting. Bark acts as the protective outer layer on trees that protects the plant from drought and shields against radiation.
Cork oaks have been growing thinner and more porous layers of bark. Cork producers need bark that's at least 27 millimeters (1 inch) thick to make a good cork
but most of the trees are now producing bark between 3 mm and 10 mm (0. 1 inches and 0. 4 inches) Teixeira and colleagues write in their study
To figure out what might be causing the changes Teixeira and a team of researchers analyzed genes in the bark of five high-quality cork trees and five low-quality cork trees growing in Portugal.
The scientists discovered that heat shock proteins are essential to the bark of high-quality cork trees. These proteins help the tree grow normally even under stressful conditions like drought
and high temperatures and promote cell division that makes the bark grow thicker. Bad cork trees have fewer of these shock proteins
but they have more genes that produce huge amounts of phenolic compounds UV-absorbing chemicals that collect inside the bark.
The researchers also discovered that the trees with thin layers of bark have lots of lenticular channels small airways that allow gas exchange between the bark and the outside air.
Corks made from this kind of bark are considered low quality because the lenticular channels allow more air to enter the bottle.
In the future it may even be possible to genetically engineer cork oaks with high-quality bark.
but they largely subsist on nectar from flowers which is not a typical source of food for most other birds.
and pectoral fins were supported by several long thin bones powered by muscles largely within the trunk.
Lycophytes horsetails and ferns grew to large sizes and formed Earth s first forests. By the end of the Devonian progymnosperms such as Archaeopteris were the first successful trees.
Archaeopteris could grow up to 98 feet (30 meters) tall with a trunk diameter of more than 3 feet.
It had a softwood trunk similar to modern conifers that grew in sequential rings. It did not have true leaves
but fernlike structures connected directly to the branches (lacking the stems of true leaves). There is evidence that they were deciduous as the most common fossils are shed branches.
Reproduction was by male and female spores that are accepted as being the precursors to seed-bearing plants.
By the end of the Devonian period the proliferation of plants increased the oxygen content of the atmosphere considerably
which was important for development of terrestrial animals. At the same time carbon dioxide (CO2) a greenhouse gas was depleted from earlier levels.
Poo may not smell like roses but it shouldn't smell like a rotting swamp of roses either.
A truly awful-smelling bowel movement something admittedly hard to quantify in writing can be either a sign of an infection or something more serious such as Crohn's disease celiac disease or ulcerative colitis.
and weeds that cause seasonal allergies are very light and stay airborne for a long time. The pollen in bee honey comes from flowers
and is very heavy and falls to the ground. They are the wrong kind of pollens for causing seasonal allergies Costa said.
Ragweed in New england is the same as ragweed in Texas and people who are allergic to grass pollen may just be miserable everywhere
Flowers are a common trigger for seasonal allergies. It's rare for flower pollen to contribute to seasonal allergies Costa said.
Flower pollens are relatively heavy and fall to the ground rather than lingering in the air. In contrast pollens from trees (such as birch oak elm maple and cottonwood) grasses and weeds are very light
and stay airborne for a long time he explained. Unlike with tree and grass pollens you can control your exposure to flowers Costa said.
Myth: All nasal sprays are bad. Patients need to use some nasal sprays selectively and judiciously Costa told Live Science.
Topical nasal steroids are usually best for people with seasonal allergies he said. They work by reducing inflammation in the lining of the nose.
but they are only available for ragweed or grass pollens. Follow Live Science@livescience Facebook & Google+.
and ice-clinging anemones are among the top new species discovered in the last year.
See Photos of the Top 10 New Species Beautiful beasties The species honored with a place on the top 10 list range from plant to animal to fungus.
The species dubbed Edwardsiella andrillae is the first-ever anemone known to live on ice. Transparency is a theme for two other new species. The itsy-bitsy shrimp Liropus minusculus was found in a cave on Santa catalina Island off the coast of California.
The mother of dragons tree (actually known as Keweesak's Dragon tree) is a gorgeous 40-foot-tall (12 m) monster found in Thailand.
Dracaena kaweesakii grows on limestone in the country's mountainous Loei and Lopburi provinces. The tree has elongated leaves and creamy white flowers with orange filaments reminiscent of dragon fire.
A world away but seemingly from the same tale is Tinkerbella nana an unbelievably small parasitoid wasp with feathery delicate wings.
Another mini-newcomer is a Penicillium fungus Penicillium vanoranjei so named because its colonies are bright orange
Researchers found the fungus in soil in Tunisia. Finally Australia provides a home for the last new creature on the list the leaf-tailed gecko (Saltuarius eximius.
The new creature lives in the remote mountainous rainforests of northeastern Australia. It was discovered along with a new golden skink and a frog that live in boulder fields during a National geographic-sponsored expedition.
Vegetation is gone in many places leaving bare soil #which contributes to dust storms he said. In Texas 240 counties were designated primary natural disaster areas#by the U s. Department of agriculture in April along with several counties in Oklahoma.
which even in winter have some carbohydrates mostly sucrose) in the vascular tissue beneath their bark had been gnawed by rats all the way around the base of the trunk a practice called girdling that usually kills a tree.
I'm probably one of the few people that really roots for an extremely cold day because
Bee boxes wildflowers and unmowed pastures are but a few ways to improve healthy pollinator communities.
they only eat vegetation such as shrubs bushes and grasses. Grazing accounts for a significant part of their eating habits.
For example Alpine ibex climb up the side of the Cingino Dam in the Italian Alps to lick salt and lichens from the stones.
For example in areas where the invasive vine kudzu grows prolifically it has been shown to boost ozone levels.
I processed the images again to extract as much shadow detail as possible from the tree bushes canyon walls and ground.
#New Clues to Evolution of Flowering Forests Flowering plants are the most successful group of plants On earth.
This type of pervasive vegetation dominates forests and makes up 90 percent of all plant life on land.
The first fossils of flowering plants or angiosperms resembled the brush that grows along fast-flowing streams and rivers.
How did these 140-million-year-old shrubs eventually become vast forests? New research conducted from the top of a 131-foot-tall (40 meters) crane suggests the secret is in their leaf plumbing.
Amazon Photos: Trees That Dominate the Rain forest Researchers already knew that angiosperms had diversified and spread before the dino-killing meteorite smashed into Earth and reset life on the planet 65 million years ago.
But the fossil evidence is ambiguous as to whether the mass extinction was a tipping point
or if angiosperms were already on their way to world domination before the impact. In the new study scientists sought clues by comparing modern forests to fossil plants.
In modern tropical forests sun-loving trees grab the most energy with tightly packed leaf veins
This leaf vein density is a hallmark of photosynthesis or how fast a leaf can transport water
and take in carbon dioxide. The scientists also looked at leaf litter the detritus that falls to the forest floor.
This was particularly important because a litter assemblage is the closest analog to a fossil flora the leaves that have fallen from the trees accumulated on the ground
The modern leaf grouping was most similar to fossils from forests that grew 58 million years ago Crifã reports in the September 2014 issue of the journal Geology.
The modern leaves were compared to fossil angiosperms from as far back as 132 million years ago.
The results suggest angiosperm forests resembling today's tropical forests dominated after the meteorite impact not before.
Plants grown in the hydrogel membrane spread their roots throughout the top of the film.
Combining mountain snow with the essence of certain plants such as jasmine and rose the Moors were making gelato long before it became popular in Italy.
But the native flavors of Sicily mulberry almond lemon blood orange and mandarin made their mark on
Years later these tree trunks were in pretty good shape. If a tree had fallen in my backyard it would be sawdust in 10 years or so.
The pair noticed that the tree trunks seemed largely unchanged even after a few decades. Apart from a few ants the dead tree trunks were unscathed largely
when we first encountered them Mousseau who is also co-director of the Chernobyl and Fukushima Research Initiatives at the University of South carolina told Smithsonian.
To find out what was happening or more accurately what wasn't happening the research team collected hundreds of samples of leaf litter from forest floors that were contaminated not by radiation
Samples of leaf litter that were placed in highly contaminated areas showed 40 percent less decomposition than samples that were placed in uncontaminated sites.
Radiation is known to have harmful effects on microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. Recent research has found that radiation therapy can cause severe complications in cancer patients by reducing the populations of helpful bacteria in the intestines.
and other researchers are concerned that the buildup of leaf litter on the forest floor presents a real danger.
In the event of a forest fire 28 years'worth of undecayed leaves would provide an ideal fuel for the fire
It adds to the fuel as well as makes it more likely that catastrophically sized forest fires might start.
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