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Thin skin significantly blunts injury from puncture, study finds

A man looking up at a camera smiling
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Thin, stretchy skin — like that of a pig or human — significantly lessens the underlying damage that occurs when it’s punctured. Pig skin even outperforms synthetic materials that are designed to mimic skin, a new study finds. Its special qualities, in particular its ability to...

Study: Good nutrition boosts honey bee resilience against pesticides, viruses

Two men standing in a field holding bees
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — In a new study, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign tackled a thorny problem: How do nutritional stress, viral infections and exposure to pesticides together influence honey bee survival? By looking at all three stressors together, the scientists found that...

CABBI team designs efficient bioenergy crops that need less water to grow

two men standing in front of plants.
Drought stress has long been a limiting factor for crop production around the world, a challenge exacerbated by climate change.For more than a century­, scientists have targeted a key plant trait known as water use efficiency (WUE) to help crops grow with less water and avoid suffering from drought...

Drowning tomatoes for science

A scientist studying a tomato plant that's in a plastic bag.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. —  I can barely hear Esther Ngumbi over the roar of greenhouse fans as she shows me around her rooftop laboratory in Morrill Hall. The benches are full of tomato plants, and the tomatoes don’t look good. Half of the plants are submerged in bins of water. Their leaves are yellow...

Researchers reconstruct an evolutionary history of flowering plants

plant
Researchers at the University of Illinois have contributed to a large-scale international study that has reconstructed a comprehensive "tree of life" for flowering plants.  The study offers new light on the evolutionary history of angiosperms, which account for approximately 90 percent of all...

Researchers find unique adaptations of fungus associated with bee bread

fungus magnified
The past attempts of honey bee researchers to inventory the fungal diversity in honey bee colonies revealed that Aspergillus flavus is frequently found in hives. In a new study, researchers have discovered that this fungus is uniquely adapted to survive in bee colonies.The...

The sweetness of science

Erinn in greenhouse holding plant in pot
Have you ever wondered how plants protect themselves from predators? This is a question Erinn Dady addresses in her research as a graduate student in the Department of Entomology.Dady grew up in Champaign-Urbana. Prior to becoming a...

Back from the dead: Tropical tree fern repurposes its dead leaves

Jim Dalling in greenhouse with ferns
Plant biologists report that a species of tree fern found only in Panama reanimates its own dead leaf fronds, converting them into root structures that feed the mother plant. The fern, Cyathea rojasiana, reconfigures these “zombie leaves,” reversing the flow of water to draw nutrients back...