Seedlings

‘Priming’ plants by exposing them to certain chemicals while they’re seeds can affect their growth later in life.Researchers have found that treating seeds with ethylene gas increases both their growth and stress tolerance. This discovery, involving enhanced photosynthesis and carbohydrate production in plants, offers a potential breakthrough in improving crop yields and resilience against environmental stressors.Just like any other organism, plants can get stressed. Usually, it’s conditions like heat and drought that…

Twelve grams of the moon arrived at Robert Ferl’s laboratory in an undecorated UPS box. Ferl, a horticulturist at the University of Florida, had waited more than a decade for that moment. The small box of dirt, postmarked from NASA, held some of the last remaining unopened samples of moon dust, or regolith, collected by astronauts on the Apollo 11, 12 and 17 missions. Despite months of practice, Ferl recalls, he lifted the sample with trembling hands. “It’s freaky, scary stuff. I mean, what happens if you drop that?” he…