While growing up, I always heard the phrases, “drink your milk,” or “eat your vegetables.” Parents everywhere seem to integrate these phrases into everyday life in order to encourage their children to stay healthy and build strong bones; but what if parents and children switched roles for...

Wine enthusiasts will likely know tannins as the class of chemicals that creates a dry feeling in the mouth after a sip of red wine. However, these compounds do more than give sommeliers a topic for debate—they are widespread chemical defenses in the plant world that work by forming complexes with...

Diabetes, a metabolic disease that has become more and more prevalent in our society, happens to be very common in my family tree. In fact, I must take extra precautions not to develop this condition since it currently affects both my father and grandfather. Fortunately, many scientists have conducted...

Rice, one of the most important crops for a large part of the world, is extremely sensitive to drought, but can tolerate floods due to its high demand for water. With the climate constantly changing, researchers have searched for ways to keep the plant stably growing in both precipitation extremes.

According...

Schoolchildren learn a very simple interaction between plants and animals—we take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide, they take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen.

However, plants and animals contribute to the cycling of many more essential molecules, and those cycles are sometimes connected...

Growing up, I always wondered why my grandmother’s cure-all to any sickness was a hot cup of tea. Her saying was “a cup of tea a day, keeps the doctor away.” Latest research by scientists has furthered my understanding of this tea plant and provided evidence of its medicinal properties. According...

It seems as though we always discuss what we, society, can do to protect the environment, but what if we left the responsibility up to the plants instead?

Scientists from the University of Missouri have discovered that buffer strips of grass can help limit ground erosion and can reduce herbicide...

As I often research water conservation efforts around the world for my current internship, I recently came across an extraordinary study conducted by two scientists from the University of California-Santa Barbara. The study, published in the journal Oeciligia earlier this year, highlights the UC Santa...

Essential oils of plants are often extracted for their various uses, therapeutic or otherwise. Steam distillation, often used to extract oils from aromatic compounds due to the temperature-sensitive nature of plants, also produces wastewater. However, according to recent research, this wastewater...

When I think of nitrates and nitrites I think of additives to fish or cured meats, like ham and bacon. However, it turns out that the majority of the nitrates we consume come from a diet rich in leafy vegetables and fruits. Spinach, lettuce, cauliflower, and celery are primary sources of nitrate,...

A recent study published in Nature Communications explains the impact that ants and termites have on dryland wheat yields. It is already known that ant and termite activity can affect a plethora of different aspects of soil. For example, ants and termites can alter the aeration or nutrient cycling...

Algae have been shown to be a likely prospect for biofuel production for myriad reasons, as we explored in an article highlighting algae production and its relationship to the burgeoning biofuel industry. One of the primary benefits of algae is their ability to grow in a variety of conditions so long...

Last week, my family and I took a road trip across the diverse landscapes that form the countries of Lebanon and Syria. While this region of the world is often known for its instability, relative unrest, and political uncertainty, what I witnessed in our week long trip was far from any of that.

When...

If you have ever eaten a banana, you know that there are no seeds. But in natural conditions, bananas have hundreds of seeds and are only seedless when produced in commercial settings. Other fruits, like the cherimoya, also known as the custard apple, are native to the Andes valley and are considered...