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Plants

The exhibit room appears nearly monochromatic and devoid of life before the augmented reality app reveals Ruffner's invented plants.

This Artist Imagines How Nature Evolves Following an Environmental Apocalypse

Ginny Ruffner’s “Reforestation of the Imagination” at the Renwick uses augmented reality to show the plants that might grow after environment devastation

The Fortingall Yew.

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U.K.’s Oldest Tree Is Being Besieged by Tourists

Visitors to the Fortingall Yew are snapping twigs, stealing needles and tying beads and ribbons to branches, which experts believe may be stressing it out

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La Jolla’s ‘Lorax’ Tree Has Fallen

The Monterey cypress believed to have partially inspired Dr. Seuss’s 1971 classic enviromental tale toppled last week for unknown reasons

A spotted salamander inside a pitcher plant.

Pitcher Plants Have Been Quietly Snacking on Baby Salamanders

It was previously thought that the plants rarely ate vertebrate animals

Simone Leigh's "Brick House" is the Plinth's first artistic commission

The High Line’s Art-Centric Final Section Is Officially Open

Dubbed the Spur, the space will feature a rotating series of contemporary art commissions

The spiral pattern of an Aloe polyphylla plant at the University of California Botanical Garden.

Decoding the Mathematical Secrets of Plants’ Stunning Leaf Patterns

A Japanese shrub’s unique foliage arrangement leads botanists to rethink plant growth models

Most of the World’s Macadamias May Have Originated From a Single Australian Tree

But this lack of genetic diversity could put cultivated macadamias at risk

The small, rocky island of St. Michael's Mount is off the coast of Cornwall, England.

Calling All Green Thumbs! A Legendary British Island Is Looking to Hire a Resident Gardener

Applicants will need to be comfortable with rappelling down the battlements of a historic castle

Flower of tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera).

Civil War Plant Remedies Actually Fought Off Infections, Study Finds

Researchers tested the antimicrobial properties of three plants mentioned in an 1863 treatment book

Do fungi like this Penicillium mold, which produces the the antibiotic penicillin, trace their origins to an ancestor that lived a billion years ago?

Fossil Discovery Pushes Back the Origin of Fungi by Half a Billion Years

Ancient fungus helps rewrite what we know about evolution and the tree of life

Scientists bioengineer living plants to emit light.

These Glowing Plants Could One Day Light Our Homes

The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum gives us a glimpse into a world where we read by a natural greenish glow

Hippos excrete 880 pounds of silica into Kenya’s Mara River every day

East Africa’s Mara River Relies on Hippo Poop to Transport a Key Nutrient

Hippo droppings account for more than three-quarters of the ecosystem’s silica

New Research

Beer Fueled Diplomacy in This Ancient Empire

Analysis shows a brewery at a Wari outpost in the mountains of southern Peru strengthened bonds with friends and neighbors

That's some bad news for hay fever sufferers.

New Research

Allergy Season Is Getting Longer and Nastier Each Year

An extended and intensified allergy season is one of the most visible effects of climate change

Cool Finds

This Is the World’s Tallest Tropical Tree

The yellow meranti in Malaysia’s Sabah state is 330 feet tall and weighs more than a jetliner

Some three to five million years ago, the icy environs of Antarctica were replaced by verdant swaths of green

CO2 Levels Are as High as They Were Three Million Years Ago

The last time Earth had this much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, trees were growing at the South Pole

Wildflower enthusiasts waiting to exit toward Walker Canyon on March 9, 2019.

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Superbloom Turns Southern California City Into a #Poppynightmare

Lake Elsinore has seen tens of thousands of people descend on Walker Canyon to see the recent superbloom, overwhelming local resources

To find out what's going on outside, people love to search for it online.

Bird Migrations, Floral Blooms and Other Natural Phenomena Cause Seasonal Spikes in Wikipedia Searches

A new study has found that pageview trends for various plants and animal species correspond to real-world seasonal patterns

Banksias, 2014

Art Meets Science

Dornith Doherty’s Mesmerizing Photos Capture the Contradictions of Seed Banking

“Archiving Eden,” now at the National Academy of Sciences, shows how guarding against an ecological catastrophe is both optimistic and pessimistic

New Study Showcases Three-Toed Sloth’s Unsung Adaptability

Juvenile members of the so-called “specialized” herbivore species draw on a more diverse diet than previously believed

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