Knowing how plants stretch out when warm could help dial back their response

nature & planetPhys.org

Knowing how plants stretch out when warm could help dial back their response

from Phys.org

When they start to get too warm but before they're dangerously hot, most plants employ a similar playbook. They change their shape, a host of adaptations that includes growing longer stems and stalks to promote air circulation.

explained

Plants are the eukaryotic organisms that constitute the kingdom Plantae (/'plænteɪ/). They are predominantly photosynthetic or came from photosynthetic ancestors, meaning that they obtain their energy from sunlight by using the green pigment chlorophyll in their chloroplasts to produce sugars from carbon dioxide and water. Over the course of time, some plants have evolved to be parasitic, meaning they take energy from other organisms. Except for glaucophytes, some green algae and a few red algae, most plants are multicellular.

Historically, as in Aristotle's biology, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi. Definitions have narrowed since then; current definitions exclude fungi and some of the algae. By the definition used in this article, plants form the clade Viridiplantae (green plants), which consists of the green algae and the embryophytes or land plants (hornworts, liverworts, mosses, lycophytes, ferns, conifers and other gymnosperms, and flowering plants). A definition based on genomes includes the Viridiplantae, along with the red algae and the glaucophytes, in the clade Archaeplastida.

From Wikipedia: Plant (CC BY-SA 4.0) ↗

how it works

Warmth is detected by proteins and by changes in how DNA is packaged. These raise levels of growth-promoting regulators, which in turn boost the plant hormone auxin in stems and leaf stalks. Cells then elongate, so the stem lengthens and the leaves lift away from the warmer ground.

so what

Crops face more warm spells every year, and a plant that stretches in the heat can lose yield. If breeders can dial the response back, they could keep warm-weather plants growing sturdy rather than leggy.

fun fact

Thale cress, the small weed that is biology's standard lab plant, has been used to work out much of how plants sense warmth, partly because it stretches so obviously when the temperature rises.

Hampi was once one of the world's largest cities, until its Vijayanagara capital was destroyed in 1565

the gist

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.

how it works

The city was built around a fortified core with temples, markets and water structures along the river, supplied by an extensive network of roads and waterworks. When the empire fell, the city was not rebuilt, so its stone monuments were left standing.

so what

Hampi shows how quickly a great city can vanish after a military defeat, and how a ruined capital can remain sacred. Its ruins give historians a view of medieval South Asia that few other sites can match.

fun fact

The name Hampi comes from Pampa, an old name for the Tungabhadra River.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

2 min

politicsshortCNA2:01

False allegations about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s markets and a made-up meeting

from CNA

CNA Verify has found close to 400 posts pushing falsehoods tying Singapore to Indonesia’s stock market rout and to a secret meeting that never took place. Together, they drew nearly 12 million views, and some were circulated by accounts that appeared to be working in concert, across multiple social media platforms.

Here’s how the disinformation campaign targeting Singapore was uncovered.

on YouTube: CNA ↗