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Bananas Over Plastic

Category(-ies): Novel Uses of Plants

Thanks again to Claire Thompson for providing an entry. Claire writes:

The Polymer Processing Research Centre at Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is contributing to the Badana project, an initiative with aims to convert mass wastes from banana plantations into usable forms of plastic. The plastic will be used to make items ranging from oil tanks to plastic dolls. Benefits from the project are said to include the reduction of polyethylene production, job creation in the Canary Islands, and financial benefits to the banana plantations. If successful, the Badana project may offset the 25,000 tonnes of banana waste that is dumped into ravines in the Canary Islands each year.

Links:

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 7:00 AM

 


Cleaning Up Toxic Waste With Plants

Category(-ies): Novel Uses of Plants

Phytoremediation is a relatively new science aimed at cleaning up pollutants or solving other environmental problems using plants.

Recent research in Washington utilizing genetically-modified poplars showed a 30-fold increase in the removal of trichloroethylene (TCE) from a liquid solution. See: Plants tricked into cleaning up toxins – Reuters

Thanks to David Brownstein for sending along the link!

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:23 PM

 


Seaweed and Chips

Category(-ies): Novel Uses of Plants

French researchers have identified a possible new source of energy-storing supercapacitors: baked seaweed.

Baked Seaweed and Chips via news@nature.com's Philip Ball.

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 11:27 AM

 


Taking "Green Construction" to a New Level

Category(-ies): Novel Uses of Plants

People have turned to trees for home building materials since prehistory. Usually the trees are cut to harvest the timber used for construction. Architect, Mitchell Joachim is designing a home that will use living trees as its framework - a home that will grow into its environment and can be adapted to its dwellers' needs. This is not to be a house built in a tree like a typical children's treehouse. Joachim's design will train the branches of living trees and woody vines to form the structure of the house. Directing plant growth into structural forms is not a new idea, pleaching has long been used to create garden arches and fences. This project will take that horticultural art to a new level.

Continue reading "Taking "Green Construction" to a New Level"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 11:19 AM

 


Winterizing the Green Roof

Category(-ies): Novel Uses of Plants , Plants in the Landscape

Green roofs are becoming more popular in North America. They bring nature into the urban environment, soften the view for people and provide habitat for insects and wild birds. They also have been shown to absorb noise pollution, alleviate stormwater runoff and help keep buildings cooler in summer. Canadian researchers, working in Ottawa and Toronto, have been testing designs for northern green roofs. A few simple changes to the typical green roof design resulted in dramatic reductions of heat loss from the buildings.

Typical green roofs use grasses, wildflowers and other low-growing plants in shallow soil beds - as little as 6 centimetres. The Canadian research team chose a plant that was well suited to the north. Juniper shrubs were planted to help reduce the effect of windspeed, which draws heat from the building. Deeper beds were constructed to form insulation against heat loss. Even in an experiment on a carefully designed energy-efficient house, the addition of a green roof resulted in a reduction of heat-loss around 8½ percent.

Link:
Green Roof Technology Adapted to Cold Climates from EnviroZine, online publication of Environment Canada

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:41 PM

 


More Efficient Rain Gardens

Category(-ies): Novel Uses of Plants , Plants in the Landscape

Rain gardens have become popular landscape features in recent decades. The gardens are small depressed areas used to catch stormwater run-off from roofs, driveways and other impervious surfaces. Stormwater run-off is a major source of the pollution found in our rivers, streams and lakes. Studies have confirmed the ability of rain gardens to trap contaminants and in some cases convert them to less harmful compounds. A recent study shows how a small design change can help the gardens' ability to reduce nitrates.

Continue reading "More Efficient Rain Gardens"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:04 PM

 


A Substitute for Peat?

Category(-ies): Novel Uses of Plants

Peat has been used by gardeners as one of the finest soil amendments for ericaceous plants, but peat is collected from wetlands, which harbour many rare and endangered species. Peat bogs can take centuries to regenerate. "In the past half century, 94 per cent of Britain's lowland peat bogs have been lost," (Don). Garden writer and BBC personality, Monty Don, has found an alternative to peat, growing wild on his farm. Bracken fern, Pteridium aquilinum, seems to be an excellent addition to compost for acid-loving plants. Trimming off the top of the plant for mulch and compost can also help bring the competitive weed under control without using chemical herbicides.

Links:

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 11:43 AM

 


Cancer Therapy Uses Chlorophyll Based Drug

Category(-ies): Novel Uses of Plants , Plants, Food and Medicine

The illness of a family member prompted Avigdor Scherz, a plant biochemist based at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, to develop a new treatment for prostate cancer. He knew that when chlorophyll is hit by light it releases “highly reactive molecules capable of destroying nearby cells” (from the article). He theorized that a drug made from the plant pigment could be activated by light focused on a specific area of the body.

Continue reading "Cancer Therapy Uses Chlorophyll Based Drug"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 5:01 PM

 


Scientists Modify Plants to Produce Anticancer Antibodies

Category(-ies): Novel Uses of Plants , Plants, Food and Medicine

Scientists at Jefferson Medical College have inserted DNA coding into tobacco plants that causes the plants to produce monoclonal antibodies against colorectal cancer. After demonstrating that modified tobacco could generate antibodies that were shown to be effective against rabies in mice, the researchers turned their attention to developing a cancer treatment.

Continue reading "Scientists Modify Plants to Produce Anticancer Antibodies"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:00 PM

 


Future Farmers on Mars?

Category(-ies): Novel Uses of Plants

Future exploration of Mars would be greatly aided if some of our human needs could be produced on the planet. Conditions on Mars are too harsh to support any life forms presently known on Earth. NASA is funding research to look at the possibility of developing plants that might survive in greenhouses on the alien planet.

Continue reading "Future Farmers on Mars?"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:39 PM