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All Articles Tagged As: plants
Inspired by a traditional Balkan bedbug remedy, researchers have documented how microscopic hairs on kidney bean leaves effectively stab and trap the biting insects, according to findings published online today in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. Scientists at UC Irvine and the University of Kentucky are now developing materials that mimic the geometry of the leaves.
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 | A team of materials scientists at Harvard University and the University of Exeter, UK, have invented a new fiber that changes color when stretched. Based on the "bastard hogberry" plant, the new fiber could lend itself to the creation of smart fabrics that visibly react to heat or pressure. ...> Full Article |
A new sunflower-inspired pattern increases concentrated solar efficiency.
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 | Clean solutions to human energy demands are essential to our future. While sunlight is the most abundant source of energy at our disposal, we have yet to learn how to capture, transfer and store solar energy efficiently. According to University of Toronto chemistry professor Greg Scholes, the answers can be found in the complex systems at work in nature. ...> Full Article |
 | A new artificial surface inspired by floating seeds could provide an alternative to the toxic paints currently used to prevent fouling on ship hulls. The artificial surface, developed by German scientists, is covered with fibers to prevent marine organisms from settling -- the same strategy used by the seeds. The researchers present this work at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Conference in Glasgow on July 4, 2011. ...> Full Article |
The Mimosa plant, which folds its leaves when they're touched, is inspiring a new class of adaptive structures designed to twist, bend, stiffen and even heal themselves. University of Michigan researchers are leading their development.
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 | Alan Newell of the University of Arizona will give the talk, "The Universal Nature of Fibonacci Patterns," on Friday, Feb. 18 at the 2011 AAAS annual meeting at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. as part of the symposium, "The Growth of Form in Mathematics, Physics and Biology." The symposium begins at 8 a.m. EST and Newell's presentation is scheduled for 9 a.m. ...> Full Article |
 | Researchers are creating a new type of solar cell designed to self-repair like natural photosynthetic systems in plants by using carbon nanotubes and DNA, an approach aimed at increasing service life and reducing cost. ...> Full Article |
 | A team led by a North Carolina State University researcher has shown that water-gel-based solar devices -- "artificial leaves" -- can act like solar cells to produce electricity. The findings prove the concept for making solar cells that more closely mimic nature. They also have the potential to be less expensive and more environmentally friendly than the current standard-bearer: silicon-based solar cells. ...> Full Article |
 | The hairs on the surface of water ferns could allow ships to have a 10 per cent decrease in fuel consumption. The plant has the rare ability to put on a gauzy skirt of air under water. Researchers at the University of Bonn, Rostock and Karlsruhe now show in the journal Advanced Materials how the fern does this. Their results can possibly be used for the construction of new kinds of hulls with reduced friction. ...> Full Article |
 | Applied mathematicians dissected the morphology of the plantain lily, a characteristic long leaf with a saddle-like arc midsection and closely packed ripples along the edges. The simple cause of the lily's fan-like shape -- elastic relaxation resulting from bending during differential growth -- was revealed by using an equally simple technique, stretching foam ribbons. ...> Full Article |
 | A NASA team is developing a transparent coating that mimics the self-cleaning properties of the lotus plant to prevent dirt from sticking to the surfaces of spaceflight gear and bacteria from growing inside astronaut living quarters. ...> Full Article |
Nature's branching patterns are most efficient way to flow
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 | engineers have designed a class of material structures that can repel oils, a novel discovery that could have applications in aviation, space travel and hazardous waste cleanup. Such materials could be used to help protect parts of airplanes or rockets that are vulnerable to damage from being soaked in fuel, like rubber gaskets and o-rings. ...> Full Article |
 | Researchers track airborne distribution of chlorinated flame retardant ...> Full Article |
Scientists have discovered a new way of using plants to clean up contaminated land. They have engineered plants using genes from micro-organisms encoding enzymes that break down toxic and carcinogenic explosives.
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 | There are many objects in nature, such as flowers, that are "pre-programmed" to develop into delicate, beautiful and intricately shaped forms. But can this pre-determined process be duplicated by man starting with plain, flat surfaces? ...> Full Article |
Just as you juggle a mix of multitasking chores in this time-starved world, core products to Texas' agricultural economy - such as cotton - are on the clock to provide more new and interesting features before you and other consumers head on down the shopping highway.
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Under proper conditions and with the right nutrients, the cells of animals and plants removed from their host tissues can continue to grow. The technique of propagating cells in a laboratory — known as cell culturing — is used extensively and for a wide variety of applications, from food science to drug discovery.
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