The image of Caligula as a deranged despot obsessed with power and violence has been etched into history thanks to accounts from his contemporaries. Now, a new study led by researchers at Yale University reveals that beyond his notorious cruelty, the Roman emperor possessed a sophisticated and sinister knowledge of ancient pharmacology, particularly the use […]
Plants
Posted inScience
Scientists Discover That Some Plants Can “Hear” and Even Respond to Their Pollinators by Emitting Sounds
Although the relationship between plants and pollinators has been studied for decades, not much attention has been paid to the sounds emitted by insects as they fly, land, or hover near flowers—buzzing noises that are almost imperceptible compared to other types of vibrations present in the natural environment. Now, an international team led by Professor […]
Posted inScience
The Incredible Bee Orchid, a Flower That Mimics a Female Bee to Attract Males
In the plant kingdom, survival often depends on adaptation, and in that regard, some plants have managed to develop truly ingenious and curious systems. If there are animals that pretend to be flowers or plants to deceive their predators, why shouldn’t the opposite also occur? Plants that mimic animals. One of the most ingenious and […]
Posted inScience
Scientists Revive Prehistoric Algae After 7,000 Years in the Baltic Sea Floor Without Light or Oxygen
A team from the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research in Warnemünde (IOW) has successfully reactivated microscopic algae that had remained in a dormant state on the seafloor for nearly 7,000 years. Despite spending millennia in anoxic conditions, without light or apparent metabolic activity, the analyzed diatoms fully regained their viability. This finding, recently published […]
Posted inScience
The Prodigious Plant That Can See and Simultaneously Mimic the Leaves of Surrounding Species Without Physical Contact
In the temperate forests of Chile and Argentina, a vine challenges everything we think we know about the plant world. This is Boquila trifoliata (or trifoliolata), popularly known as the South American vine, an extraordinary plant with an unprecedented ability: the capacity to mimic the leaves of other species around it. Nicknamed the chameleon vine, […]
Posted inBronze Age Archaeology
Mollusks Found in Building Materials Reveal Bronze Age Cretans Used Seagrasses to Make Their Bricks Fire-Resistant
A recent study led by Rena Veropoulidou (Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki) and Maud Devolder (Ghent University) has uncovered an innovative technique for unraveling the mysteries of Bronze Age architecture in the Aegean region. Researchers have utilized remains of marine mollusks as indirect indicators to identify traces of disintegrated mud bricks used in constructions […]
Posted inScience
Wolves Observed Feeding on Flower Nectar for the First Time
A recent study on the feeding behavior of the Ethiopian wolf, a critically endangered species, has documented an unusual interaction between this species and the Kniphofia foliosa plant. This research was conducted by the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Program (EWCP), a joint initiative between the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) at the University of Oxford, the […]
Posted inMiddle Ages
The Strange Legend of the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary
The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary, also called Borametz and Polypodium Borametz, or “Chinese polypody,” is a plant shaped like a lamb, covered in golden fluff. It stands on four or five roots; the plants around it die, yet it remains lush; when cut, it releases a bloody juice (…) In other monsters, species or animal […]
Posted inMiddle Ages, Science
Mysterious plant mentioned in the Bible is resurrected by germinating a 1,000-year-old seed found in a desert cave
An international team of researchers has successfully germinated and analyzed an ancient seed, uncovering secrets that may shed light on a plant species mentioned in ancient texts like the Bible, which may have been extinct in the southern Levant region. The study, recently published in the journal Communications Biology, details how a seed recovered during […]
Posted inScience
The Curious Phenomenon of Tree Shyness
We know that shyness affects both humans and animals, but what about plants? It turns out that yes, certain species of trees develop what is botanically referred to as shyness, which consists of an unusual growth of their branches that avoids touching those of neighboring trees. When this happens between specimens that are very close […]
