Science

Flowers are the means of sexual reproduction in angiosperms, those plants that produce seeds within an ovary. Flowers can contain male or female sex organs, or both. Depending on the species,...

Chlorophyll, the main photosynthetic pigment in green plants, does more than give plants their green color; it also absorbs light, which allows plants to convert solar energy into chemical energy...

Wax flowers, also known as hoya flowers, are tropical, ornamental plants that bear star shaped flowers that are very fragrant. There are over 200 species of these perennial evergreens. Hoya...

The use of aquatic plants to treat wastewater is by no means new to science, but the potential benefits of this purification process have only recently begun to be explored in depth.

Plant hybrids are the result of sexual reproduction between plants from two different taxa or species. Not all plant hybrids are sterile, but many are. Sterility in plant hybrids is most often the...

Plants owe their green color to chlorophyll, a chemical structure within cells that absorbs sunlight to start the photosynthetic process. This process is how plants make their food.

In 1866, Gregor Mendel, "the father of genetics" published a paper that proposed a theory as to how certain traits are passed from parents to their children. Mendel used pea plants to test his...

Cloning is the process of creating an organism that is genetically identical to another organism. The DNA of a clone is exactly the same as the original organism; identical twins are a form of...

Gibberellins are one of five plant hormones recognized by botanists. This phytohormone was discovered in the 1920s by Japanese biologists studying rice plants. The scientists thought the plants...

Cellular respiration is not the process of breathing, as the name suggests. Instead it is the process in which an organism obtains its energy. All living organisms perform cellular respiration,...

While pectin is used primarily in making jellies or preserving fruit in other ways when manufactured, in nature the complex compound plays a far more important role. Plants produce it to cement...

Water is essential for plant growth. Without water, plants cannot grow at all, and with less than the optimal amount of water, plants become wilted and stressed. When available water returns to a...

Sesame seed production began about 2000 B.C. in the Middle East. Today, producers strictly control seed-production times and processing. One benefit of sesame seeds is their long shelf life.

There are thousands of species of plants that live in the ocean. Ocean plants are affected by the temperature, salinity, nutrients and sunlight available to them. These plants are necessary in...

There are two kinds of nuclear power plants: pressurized water reactor plants and boiling water reactor plants. The majority of nuclear power plants in the United States are pressurized water...

Acidic water can have certain unhealthy affects on humans, mostly through absorption into the lungs where the acidic compounds can cause damage. There are also some visibility concerns caused by...

Modern desalination plants are modeled on the naval plants developed for steamships. Although methods of applying heat energy can vary greatly from geothermal, solar, nuclear or the combustion of...

Light, a form of energy, provides one of the basic components needed by green plants to produce food in the form of sugar. This action occurs through photosynthesis by the chlorophyll of the...

Solar energy has many uses in both small and large scale applications. Improvements in solar cell technology are continuing to decrease installation cost, which is one of the major factors...

Science projects using plants provide valuable hands-on experience for students learning botany. Seeds and common household plants are cheap materials that are available at garden centers. For...

Water loss and arid conditions are stresses that have forces plants to evolve strategies that can counter their effects. Photosynthesis is key to plant life. This article will discuss the specific...

Though fossil fuels are deeply entrenched in the world's economy, problems such as global warming have many people taking a second look at nuclear power. Events in the late 1970s turned public...

For many years scientists had to be content only with theories on how plants created energy. Only with modern age equipment have scientists been able to prove that photosynthesis takes place and...

Nuclear power is associated with around 20 percent of electricity in the United States, according to the Nuclear Energy Information Service's website. Considering that number, a large amount of...

Nuclear power plants are a form of energy production first developed using technology from the Manhattan Project and the development of the atomic bomb. The energy utilizes radioactive material...

Mycorrhizal associations are symbiotic associations allowing fungi to use carbon from plants for development and allowing plants to increase water and nutrient intake from the soil. Mycorrihizal...

Photosynthesis is the process by which plants create food for themselves using carbon dioxide and sunlight. This process depends on the level of light present, temperature, water and nutrients....

Photosynthesis is the creation of chemical compounds with the aid of radiant energy. Usually, the term is applied to plants' use of sunlight and water to generate carbohydrates and oxygen. The...

Solar energy has been around for billions of years, and unlike the limited supply of fossil fuels found on the earth, it will be around for billions more. It's also a natural energy source that...

Biofiltration water treatment is the process of cleansing storm or waste water of harmful pollutants and organic matter by running the water through a system of plants, soils and microbes. This...

Genetic modification of crops is the process of artificially inserting foreign genes into a host plant through genetic engineering to achieve a desired effect. This differs from conventional,...

Non-renewable energy sources take millions of years to create. Petroleum, natural gas, propane and coal come from buried plants and animals, hence the term fossil fuels.

Incineration of waste is used primarily as an energy source. There are 87 waste-to-energy plants in the United States. While the industry claims to have less of an environmental impact than other...

With more than 50 different species, the rhododendron genus is one of the larger ones in the plant kingdom. Most of these plants have some kind of big, colorful flower, which makes them...

Genetic engineering can help grow better and healthier plants by writing the DNA to produce better offspring when it pollinates. Find out how this field of study can help the plant world with...

Geothermal power is a clean, green source of energy being harnessed today. Like wind, solar and water power, it is renewable. It also has many other advantages.

Did you know your electricity consumption is directly tied to carbon dioxide (CO2) consumption? It's easy to estimate how much CO2 you're generating from your electric use. Here's how:

Nuclear power plants are a large part of our power grid here in the United States. Nuclear power is an excellent resource, but like every form of energy, environmental impacts must be considered.

Nuclear power plants are widely used across the United States, but unlike coal burning power plants, they emit no CO2 into the air. Even though the same steam process is used to turn a turbine and...

Styrofoam is toxic when manufactured and fills up more than thirty percent of landfills worldwide. Many people have no clue that you can recycle and reuse styrofoam in many different ways. Here...

Hybrids result when two organisms that are not the same breed or species produce offspring. Those offspring have the genes of both parental species. Many times hybrids exhibit characteristics of...

Plants are multi-cellular organisms that have several specific traits that algae do not possess, such as leaves and roots. Discover why green algae is sometimes associated with plants with help...

The questions surrounding nuclear power have existed since it was first proposed as a viable energy source in the 1950s. Questions regarding safety and long-term stability have plagued the...

Sewage treatment is a necessary and important aspect of industrialized and pre-industrial societies. Civilizations have long understood the importance of disposing of used water in a separate...

Geothermal energy creates electricity from superheated areas under the Earth's surface. There are numerous advantages to using geothermal energy, however, simple economics and a lack of suitable...

Geothermal energy harnesses electricity using heat generated from the Earth's crust. The advantages of geothermal energy are numerous, and there are relatively few disadvantages. Although its use...

Geothermal energy is any heat energy that has built up under the Earth's surface and is available to be used as a power source. Today it accounts only for 1% of the world's energy. However,...

There are many dangers in the use of nuclear power plants. The most prominent of these dangers include nuclear meltdowns; however, a variety of other problems can arise. There have been a number...

Photosynthesis occurs in all green plants, as carbon oxide and water are converted into sugars and oxygen through the chemical catalyst called chlorophyll. Discover the process of photosynthesis,...

Environmentalists are quickly considering new options to supply power to the United States and the rest of the world. Along with solar energy, wind energy is becoming one of the top options, with...