Oggi, venerdì 31 ottobre, appuntamento ai Navicelli, in via della Darsena 3 a Pisa, per l’inaugurazione del Jellyfish Barge. Interverranno: il sindaco di Pisa, Marco Filippeschi, il presidente della Camera di Commercio, Pierfrancesco Pacini, l’amministratore di Navicelli spa, Giovandomenico Caridi, il presidente onorario dell’Accademia dei Georgofili, Franco Scaramuzzi e Marco Bellandi, pro-rettore al trasferimento tecnologico […]
On Nature News by Elizabeth Gibney Surfaces that repel water existed already, but now scientists have engineered materials that speed up the bounce to repel water faster. Video: Stay dry with a bounce References: Bird, J. C., Dhiman, R., Kwon, H.-M. & Varanasi, K. K. Nature 503, 385–388 (2013).
This is the title of a recent paper published on PNAS Nov. 4th 2013. Scientists demonstrates how honey bees (Apis mellifera) can adaptively alter their behavior in a choice test in response to trial difficulty. Bees preferentially avoid difficult trials and by doing so, improve their success rate. In the paper it is discussed whether […]
Surfing the web I found this interesting collection of plants, used to dye fabrics: Alkanet: Alkanna tinctoria family Boraginaceae with a bright blue flower, used to provide a red dye. Annatto: Bixa orellana A yellow dye. The plant is also grown for ornament or hedging and used medicinally. Brazilwood: Caesalpinia echinata A species of Brazilian […]
Why do plants produce caffeine in the nectar? This is indeed an intriguing question! Check out this nice post on the flowering newsletter, and here some related papers: Adler LS. (2000), The ecological significance of toxic nectar. Oikos, 91: 409–420. doi: 10.1034/j.1600-0706.2000.910301.x Chittka L and Peng F. Caffeine Boosts Bees’ Memories. Sciences. 2013. Vol. 339 […]
The International Laboratory on Plant Neurobiology is looking for smart and motivated researchers in different fields of plant biology: cellular and structural biology, plant development, regulation and growth, environmental and stress physiology, plant tropisms and circadian rhythms, molecular biology, microbe-plant interaction, nutrition, bio-VOC, biomimetics, plant bio-mechanics and much more. HOW TO APPLY Applicants should send their CV […]
Robin Seidel, Tom Masselter, Olga Speck, Thomas Speck Plant Biomechanics Group Freiburg, Botanic Garden, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg Title: Innovative biomimetic materials inspired by plants Abstract Bio-inspired materials are becoming of major interest in light-weight constructions, enhanced materials (e.g. self-x-materials), functionalized surfaces and interfaces as well as in architecture. The main difference of […]
Carnivorous plants trap and utilize animals in order to improve their supply with mineral nutrients. The complete process of prey utilization comprises four steps: 1. Attraction (using optical signals, scents or nectar) 2. Retention (using specialized leaves) 3. Degradation (by digesting the pray with enzymes) and 4. Uptake the soluble compounds. All the plants that […]
Barbara Mazzolai Centre for Micro-BioRobotics@SSSA, Pontedera, Italy Title: Robotics and ICT technologies inspired by plants Abstract Plants have evolved very robust growth behaviours (tropisms) to respond to changes in their environment and a network of highly sensorized branching roots to efficiently explore the soil volume, mining minerals and up-taking water. In the root apparatus, each […]
George Jeronimidis Centre for Biomimetics, University of Reading (UK) Title: Fibre hierarchies in plants: the key to smart solutions Abstract Plants do not have a nervous system and they do not have means of locomotion. These constraints mean that plants are dependent on specialised mechanisms for survival in their environments, static or dynamic. The mechanical […]
