World’s oldest forest found in New York state​

The 385-million-year-old fossils show that trees evolved modern features millions of years earlier than previously estimated.

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
  • The world's oldest forest fossils were located in an abandoned quarry near Cairo, New York.
  • Research of site specimens suggests that the forebearers to modern plants evolved much earlier than expected.
  • The findings help scientists better understand how trees advanced life's evolutionary trajectory to land during a critical period.
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biosphere botany climate change ecology environment nature plants trees

Amazon fires are destructive, but they aren’t depleting Earth’s oxygen supply

Contrary to popular belief, the Amazon rainforest does not produce 20% of our planet's oxygen.

JOAO LAET/AFP/Getty Images

Fires in the Amazon rainforest have captured attention worldwide in recent days. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who took office in 2019, pledged in his campaign to reduce environmental protection and increase agricultural development in the Amazon, and he appears to have followed through on that promise.

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south america natural disasters plants sustainability biosphere environment

Plants have sensibilities, but are they conscious?

They experience reality differently than we do.

  • The field of plant neurobiology studies the complex behavior of plants.
  • Plants were found to have 15–20 senses, including many that humans have as well.
  • Some argue that plants may have awareness and intelligence, while detractors persist.
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plants biology consciousness intelligence biosphere trees environment brain

The invention that made us human: Fire

Did fire change the development of the human brain?

Photo: Pixabay
  • The earliest evidence for fire dates back nearly 440 million years.
  • Our hominin ancestors first used natural wildfires to flush out prey and forage for food.
  • Richard Wrangham's cooking hypothesis suggests that a ready supply of cooked food allowed the Homo lineage to develop its large, complex brains.
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technology innovation discovery anthropocene nature plants energy invention

'Tamagotchi-like' planter aims to bestow you with a green thumb

Designers from Luxembourg created a smart planter that can give anyone a green thumb.

Images credit: mu-design
  • A design team came up with a smart planter that can indicate 15 emotions.
  • The emotions are derived from the sensors placed in the planter.
  • The device is not in production yet but you can order it through a crowdfunding campaign.
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computers innovation future botany plants garden technology