Travel back to the Carboniferous

Andre-Papp-CC-BY-2.0

Hai Lin Wang, Nature Conservancy of Canada Alongside marshes and in forests and meadows lives a group of plants that are older than the dinosaurs. Called horsetails, these plants have had quite a trek through time. This group is also referred to as the Equisetum genus, a type of biological classification that contains all known […]

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New research sheds light on how plants sense their world

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Plant behaviour is modulated by a special class of proteins on their cell walls that help them sense and adapt to their environment Jenna Finley and Sunitha Chari, Biology & Life Sciences co-editors Plants lack the five basic senses of sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing that help animals interact with their environment. Yet they […]

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Anthropocene: The Human Epoch, Film Review

Phosphorus tailings pond, near Lakeland, Florida. Image courtesy of the Nicholas Metivier Gallery

Jasman Sahota, guest contributor The environment is constantly changing. But to what extent is the environment shaped by human activities? The Anthropocene Working Group, an international group of geologists and scientists, has deliberated on this question for the past nine years and concluded that humans are now the dominant cause of lasting impacts on the […]

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Enlighten yourself about species that glow

Zach Baranowski CC BY NC ND

Adam Hunter, Nature Conservancy of Canada, guest contributor I had my first encounter with a “glow-in-the-dark” species when I was a child. My parents and I were visiting relatives in St. Catharines, Ontario, and we were in their backyard enjoying the warm, summer evening. In the distance, I noticed tiny, flashing yellow lights floating in […]

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Maud Leonora Menten: Canadian leader in chemistry

Chantal Mustoe, Chemistry co-editor Few people will recognise the Canadian in the photo here. She was a talented painter whose work was exhibited in galleries, a gifted linguist, speaking English, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Halkomelem (a British Columbia First Nations language), an inspiring teacher, a diligent pathologist, and, above all, a passionate scientist. Maud […]

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