Plants are fully sick right now - and not just because indoor plants are in fashion.
They have an immune system, they get infections, and can catch viruses... they just can't move away from their sick neighbours.
While we depend on white blood cells to fight off and remember pathogens, plants rely on inherited knowledge of past threats in their DNA, plus ... Show More
Nov 14
The bird-eating centipede
<p>It's like a classic horror film.</p><p>There are huge fangs, a segmented body, a remote location, the ocean bashing against cliffs, you're all alone and there's no one to help.</p><p>The first bodies that turn up are of the children… of petrels.</p><p>Featuring:</p><ul><li>Luk ... Show More
25m 46s
Oct 2021
Do plants have immune systems?
<p>In the past 18 months we have heard lots about the human immune system, as we all learn about how our bodies fight off Covid-19 and how the vaccine helps protect us. But this got listener John, in Alberta, Canada, thinking about how trees and plants respond to diseases and thr ... Show More
32m 9s
Oct 2021
Drug resistant malaria found in East Africa
Since their discovery in the 1970s, artemisinin-based drugs have become the mainstay of treatment for malaria caused by the Plasmodium falciparum parasite. Researchers have identified artemisinin-resistant malaria parasites in Southeast Asia since the early 2000s, but now, there ... Show More
1h 1m
May 2021
Could we turn poisonous plants into edible crops?
<p>There are over 400,000 species of plant on earth, they’re on every continent including Antarctica. But humans only regularly eat about 200 species globally, with the vast majority of our nutrition coming from just three species. Many of the fruits, leaves and tubers that other ... Show More
27m 59s
Mar 2023
Do climbing plants know where they’re going?
<p>CrowdScience listener Eric, in New Zealand, has noticed his wisteria growing towards a neighbouring tree. He thinks that it actually knows where it’s going. But how can a plant have a sense of direction?</p><p>Plants don’t have the advantage of brains or eyes, but that doesn’t ... Show More
29 m
Jun 2021
Cov-Boost trial; SARS-Cov 2 infection in action; sapling guards; why tadpoles are dying
Scientists are now looking at the question of third doses of vaccines against SARS-Cov2, and this week the Cov-Boost trial was launched. It’s being run from University of Southampton and is going to be using seven different vaccines, some at half doses, in people over the age of ... Show More
30m 22s
Aug 2018
Capturing greenhouse gas, Beating heart failure with beetroot, Why elephants don't get cancer, Exactly - a history of precision
Researchers have found a way to produce a naturally occurring mineral, magnesite, in a lab, that can absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, offering a potential strategy for tackling climate change. They've accelerated a process that normally takes thousands of years to a matter of days ... Show More
28m 1s