Snapping jaws of death – Think plants don’t move quickly? The Venus flytrap snaps shut its leaves in 40 milliseconds – without the aid of muscles or a nervous system. But *how* this happens has been a mystery. A recent paper in Nature describes research into the physics of “snap buckling”, an event that describes rapid changes in leaf shape.

Genetically modified rice approved – The USDA recently approved a line of genetically modified rice for consumption, deeming it safe for humans and the environment. The rice variety, LL601, was created by Bayer CropScience (N. Carolina) to be resistant to their brand of weed-killer called Liberty. The LL601 line apparently escaped containment and got into the environment in 2001, sparking public concern.

Overcoming defenses - Some species of plants accumulate very high levels of selenium to fend off would be herbivores who ingest the lethal toxin. Now, research published in Current Biology describes a moth variety – and a wasp that parasitizes the moth – that have both evolved ways of neutralizing the toxin’s effect.