In the midwestern summer, humans and plants have to breathe through the heat and humidity. Researchers hope that a retooled crop plant—one with an improved ventilation system within its leaves—could thrive while avoiding drought stress by reducing “crop sweat”. Thanks to a next generation...
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Honey bee larvae lack the sophisticated olfactory capabilities of adult honey bees, a new study finds. Scientists point to this temporary loss-of-function as a side effect of the nurse bees’ heroic level of brood care, calling it a consequence of social evolution.The new findings...
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Nature has invented countless types of pointy appendages, and scientists have long sought to explain what makes these structures so effective at puncturing other things. A new study models the key physical characteristics of puncturing tools to reflect their diversity in...
In a publication from last fall in New Phytologist, Plant Biology Assistant Professor Rose Marks shared new research involving the resurrection plant Myrothamnus flabellifolia...
A newly published study in the Journal of Chemical Ecology offers new insight into how plants respond when faced with multiple environmental challenges at once. This work was led by former undergraduate researchers in the lab of...
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Some Arctic regions regain their “greenness” within a decade of a sudden permafrost collapse, while others can take a century or more to recover, researchers report in a new study. The difference is directly related to each site’s gross primary productivity, a measure of its...
Two PEEC graduate students have been named among the Top 9 Finalists for the 2026 Research Live! Finalist Showcase. Hosted by the Graduate College, this event invites students to present their research to a general audience in three minutes or less.The Research Live! event will take place on...
Plant owners with a so-called green thumb often seem to have a more finely tuned sense of what their plants need than the rest of us. A new “smart lighting” system for indoor vertical farms grants this ability on a facility-wide scale, responsively meeting plants’ needs while reducing energy...
Corn bred with genes from wild relatives can reshape soil microbial communities and reduce nitrogen loss — with no yield reduction — according to new research from the University of Illinois Urbana-...
