Subscribe now

Plants know their kin

Some plants recognise and cooperate with close relatives, and compete with “strangers”, say Susan Dudley and Amanda File of McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. They report that the Great Lakes sea rocket (Cakile edentula) “competed” by putting out extra roots when grown in trays alongside “stranger” plants (Biology Letters, DOI: 10:1098/rsbl.2007.0232).

Ghost of Titan’s ocean

An enigmatic radio signal detected by the European Space Agency’s Huygens probe as it descended to Saturn’s moon Titan could turn out to come from an ice-covered ocean. Fernando Simoes of the Centre for the Study of Terrestrial and Planetary…

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. We'll also keep you up to date with New Scientist events and special offers.

Sign up

To continue reading, subscribe today with our introductory offers

Popular articles

Trending New Scientist articles

Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop