Hacker News with Generative AI: Plants

Scientists witness living plant cells generate cellulose and form cell walls (phys.org)
In a groundbreaking study on the synthesis of cellulose—a major constituent of all plant cell walls—a team of Rutgers University-New Brunswick researchers have captured images of the microscopic process of cell-wall building continuously over 24 hours with living plant cells, providing critical insights that may lead to the development of more robust plants for increased food and lower-cost biofuels production.

Science, Biology, Plants, Biotechnology, Research

109 points by PaulHoule 24 days ago | 3 comments

600M years of shared environmental stress response found in algae and plants (phys.org)
Without plants on land, humans could not live on Earth.

Science, Biology, Plants, Algae, Environment

97 points by PaulHoule 36 days ago | 6 comments

Chemists develop dye stack that mimics plant energy conversion (phys.org)
With artificial photosynthesis, mankind could utilize solar energy to bind carbon dioxide and produce hydrogen. Chemists from Würzburg and Seoul have taken this one step further: They have synthesized a stack of dyes that comes very close to the photosynthetic apparatus of plants. It absorbs light energy, uses it to separate charge carriers and transfers them quickly and efficiently in the stack.

Chemistry, Renewable Energy, Artificial Photosynthesis, Plants

5 points by wglb 37 days ago | 1 comments

Backyard Cyanide (suziepetryk.com)
There’s a bushy tree in my backyard with these dark red fruit — the kind that makes some primal instinct scream at you across millennia, but you can’t tell if it wants you to eat them or not.

Nature, Plants, Personal Experiences

138 points by tancik 45 days ago | 56 comments

Microplastics Are Messing with Photosynthesis in Plants (scientificamerican.com)
Microplastics are now a ubiquitous part of our daily physical reality.

Environmental Science, Pollution, Plants, Microplastics

5 points by Brajeshwar 46 days ago | 0 comments

Microplastics Are Messing with Photosynthesis in Plants (scientificamerican.com)
Microplastics are now a ubiquitous part of our daily physical reality.

Science, Environmental Science, Pollution, Biology, Plants

17 points by twiddling 46 days ago | 3 comments

Microplastics hinder plant photosynthesis, study finds (theguardian.com)
The pollution of the planet by microplastics is significantly cutting food supplies by damaging the ability of plants to photosynthesise, according to a new assessment.

Microplastics, Pollution, Environment, Science, Plants

9 points by pseudolus 46 days ago | 0 comments

Plants struggled for millions of years after the worst climate catastrophe (phys.org)
A team of scientists from University College Cork (UCC), the University of Connecticut, and the Natural History Museum of Vienna have uncovered how plants responded to catastrophic climate changes 250 million years ago.

Climate Change, Paleontology, Science, Plants

4 points by wglb 48 days ago | 0 comments

Smart researchers pioneer nanosensor for real-time iron detection in plants (news.mit.edu)
Researchers from the Disruptive and Sustainable Technologies for Agricultural Precision (DiSTAP) interdisciplinary research group of the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT’s research enterprise in Singapore, in collaboration with Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL) and MIT, have developed a groundbreaking near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent nanosensor capable of simultaneously detecting and differentiating between iron forms — Fe(II) and Fe(III) — in living plants.

Science, Nanotechnology, Agriculture, Plants, Research

30 points by protik49 48 days ago | 3 comments

Orchid's nutrient theft from fungi shows photosynthesis-parasitism continuum (phys.org)
When the orchid Oreorchis patens happens to grow close to rotten wood, it shifts its fungal symbionts to those that decompose the wood and significantly increases the amount of nutrients it takes from them—without ceasing to employ photosynthesis. As a result, the plants are bigger and produce more flowers.

Plants, Symbiosis, Fungi, Photosynthesis, Science

105 points by wglb 63 days ago | 13 comments

Estimates of plant CO2 uptake rise by nearly one third (ornl.gov)
Plants the world over are absorbing about 31% more carbon dioxide than previously thought, according to a new assessment developed by scientists.

Climate Change, Science, Plants, Carbon Dioxide

194 points by akyuu 102 days ago | 189 comments

Insects rely on sounds made by distressed vegetation to guide reproduction (nytimes.com)
You may not want to sit next to a crying baby on an airplane. Apparently, moths feel the same way about plants.

Science, Biology, Insects, Plants

204 points by tintinnabula 139 days ago | 188 comments

Will plants grow on the moon? (worldsensorium.com)
Three humble plants from Earth will soon travel to a new home on the moon.

Space Exploration, Botany, Moon, Plants

85 points by dnetesn 172 days ago | 72 comments

Plant CO2 uptake rises by nearly one third in new global estimates (ornl.gov)
Plants the world over are absorbing about 31% more carbon dioxide than previously thought, according to a new assessment developed by scientists.

Climate Change, Environment, Science, Plants, Research

9 points by palmfacehn 174 days ago | 0 comments

Plants find light using gaps between their cells (quantamagazine.org)
A mutant seedling revealed how plant tissues scatter incoming light, allowing plants to sense its direction and move toward it.

Botany, Biology, Science, Light, Plants

42 points by milanaross 178 days ago | 1 comments

Show HN: I made a site to quick identify any plant and learn how to care for it (frondly.app)
Identify any plant with a photo, get expert care advice. Your ultimate plant companion app.

Plants, Gardening, Artificial Intelligence, Mobile Apps

110 points by adamaskun 188 days ago | 88 comments

Kudzu, the vine that never ate the South (2015) (smithsonianmag.com)
Introduced from Asia in the late 19th century as a garden novelty, but not widely planted until the 1930s, kudzu is now America’s most infamous weed.

History, Environment, United States, Plants

75 points by NoRagrets 199 days ago | 79 comments

The Art of the Brew: Exploring Hops and Other Plant Ingredients That Define Beer (worldsensorium.com)
The modern brewmaster is a highly skilled professional who expertly navigates the intricate beer-making process.

Beer, Brewing, Plants

45 points by dnetesn 229 days ago | 16 comments

Moondance: Experience the marvel that is night-blooming tobacco (theamericanscholar.org)

Plants, Nature, Gardening, Botany

48 points by samclemens 234 days ago | 20 comments

Even desert plants known for their resilience are burning and dying in the heat (nbcnews.com)

Climate Change, Environment, Plants, Science, Deserts

23 points by thelastgallon 236 days ago | 3 comments

Beyond the Brew: The Medicinal Power of Hops (worldsensorium.com)