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Africa's 2000-year-old trees of life are suddenly dying off

Africa's 2000-year-old trees of life are suddenly dying off

11 June 2018

In the past decade most of the oldest baobabs, many of them sprouted over two millennia ago, have died unexpectedly and few new ones are sprouting


Harsh: Europe's cannabis died just as the first farmers arrived

Harsh: Europe's cannabis died just as the first farmers arrived

17 May 2018

Cannabis – the source of the drug marijuana – virtually disappeared from Europe just as farmers arrived, so they didn’t get the chance to grow it for another 4500 years


Rich nations restore their own forests but trash those elsewhere

Rich nations restore their own forests but trash those elsewhere

14 May 2018

As countries get richer, they start replanting their forests – but this is not a big environmental gain because they “export” the deforestation to poor countries


Magical regrowth: Kew Gardens opens revamped Temperate House

Magical regrowth: Kew Gardens opens revamped Temperate House

3 May 2018

Restoring the world’s largest Victorian glasshouse to its former architectural glory at the UK’s famous gardens has also reinvented it for the 21st century


Plants love carbon dioxide, but too much could be bad for them

Plants love carbon dioxide, but too much could be bad for them

19 April 2018

Most plants were expected to grow more as CO2 levels rise, but a 20-year experiment suggests that the extra CO2 is somehow stunting plant growth, which could make climate change worse


Most UK plants will flower at once in short ‘condensed spring’

Most UK plants will flower at once in short ‘condensed spring’

17 April 2018

Plants in the UK are set to blaze into flower virtually simultaneously, because flowering has been delayed two weeks by the unusually cold weather


Craft beer may get cheaper thanks to GM yeast with hoppy flavour

Craft beer may get cheaper thanks to GM yeast with hoppy flavour

20 March 2018

A genetically engineered yeast makes beer that tastes of hops, without using any hops – and it could make beer cheaper and more environmentally friendly


These searing hot chilli peppers are in danger thanks to snakes

These searing hot chilli peppers are in danger thanks to snakes

15 March 2018

The donne’ sali chilli is a major feature of the cuisine of the Mariana Islands, but thanks to an invasive snake this pepper faces an uncertain future


A weird underground plant has been rediscovered after 151 years

A weird underground plant has been rediscovered after 151 years

2 March 2018

A species of subterranean plant was only seen once, in 1866, and was assumed to be extinct – until researchers stumbled across living specimens in Borneo


The worst mass extinction may have begun with mass sterilisation

The worst mass extinction may have begun with mass sterilisation

7 February 2018

There seems to have been a surge in ultraviolet radiation during the Permian extinction 252 million years ago, and it might have left plants infertile rather than kill them


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