Plants
New research reveals that cacti are among the fastest-evolving plant groups on Earth, driven by rapid changes in flower shape rather than size or pollinators. The findings from the University of Reading challenge long-held ideas about speciation dating back to Darwin. Scientists analyzed data from more than 750 species to reach their conclusions.
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Extra copies of genetic material appear to have boosted the survival of flowering plants during Earth's major environmental crises, including the event that wiped out the dinosaurs.
Astronauts exposed 20,000 moss spores to space conditions outside the International Space Station for 283 days starting on 4 March 2022. The spores, from the species Physcomitrium patens, were returned to Earth via a SpaceX capsule and successfully germinated. Over 80 percent of the fully exposed spores remained viable, highlighting the resilience of moss in extreme environments.
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Researchers at the University of New Mexico have found that horsetails, ancient plants over 400 million years old, create extreme oxygen isotope signatures in their water that resemble those from meteorites. This discovery, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, offers a new tool for reconstructing ancient climates. By analyzing modern and fossil samples, scientists can now decode humidity levels from the dinosaur era.